The preachers of
mischief
remain
safe, and are wicked enough not to feel for their deluded disciples, - no, not at all.
safe, and are wicked enough not to feel for their deluded disciples, - no, not at all.
Edmund Burke
If you
live in any habits with my old friend, the Provost,
I shall be glad that he, too, sees this my humble
apology.
Adieu! once more accept my best thanks for the
interest you take in me. Believe that it is received
by an heart not yet so old as to have lost its susceptibility. A11 here give you the best old-fashioned
? ? ? ? 234 LETTER TO THOMAS BURGH, ESQ.
wishes of the season; and believe me, with the greatest truth and regard, My dear Sir,
Your most faithful and obliged humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, New Year's Day, 1780.
I am frightened at the trouble I give you and our
friends; but I recollect that you are mostly lawyers,
and habituated to read long, tiresome papers - and,
where your friendship is concerned, without a fee;
I am sure, too, that you will not act the lawyer in
scrutinizing too minutely every expression which my
haste may make me use. I forgot to mention my
friend O'Hara, and others; but you will communicate it as you please.
? ? ? ? LETTE R
TO JOHN MERLOTT, ESQ. *
DEAR SIR,-I am very unhappy to find that
my conduct in the business of Ireland, on a former occasion, had made many to be cold and indifferent who would otherwise have been warm in my favor. I really thought that events would have produced a quite contrary effect, and would have proved
to all the inhabitants of Bristol that it was no desire
of opposing myself to their wishes, but a certain
knowledge of the necessity of their affairs, and a
tender regard to their honor and interest, which induced me to take the part which I then took. They
placed me in a situation which might enable me to
discern what was fit to be done, on a consideration
of the relative circumstances of this country and all
its neighbors. This was what you could not so well
do yourselves; but you had a right to expect that
I should avail myself of the advantage which I derived from your favor. Under the impression of
this duty and this trust, I had endeavored to render, by preventive graces and concessions, every act
of power at the same time an act of lenity, - the
result of English bounty, and not of English timidity
and distress. I really flattered myself that the events
*An eminent merchant in the city of Bristol, of which Mr. Burke
was one of the representatives in Parliament. - It relates to the same
subject as the preceding Letter.
? ? ? ? 236 LETTER TO JOHN MERLOTT, ESQ.
which have proved beyond dispute the prudence of
such a maxim would have obtained pardon for me,
if not approbation. But if I have not been so fortunate, I do most sincerely regret my great loss,with this comfort, however, that, if I have disobliged my constituents, it was not in pursuit of any sinister interest or any party passion of my own, but in
endeavoring to save them from disgrace, along with
the whole community to which they and I belong.
I shall be concerned for this, and very much so;
but I should be more concerned, if, in gratifying a
present humor of theirs, I had rendered myself unworthy of their former or their future choice. I
confess that I could not bear to face my constituents
at the next general election, if I had been a rival
to Lord North in the glory of having refused some
small, insignificant concessions, in favor of Ireland,
to the arguments and supplications of English members of Parliament, - and in the very next session,
on the demand of forty thousand Irish bayonets, of
having made a speech of two hours long to prove
that my former conduct was founded upon no one
right principle, either of policy, justice, or commerce.
I never heard a more elaborate, more able, more convincing, and more shameful speech. The debater
obtained credit, but the statesman was disgraced
forever. Amends were made for having refused
small, but timely concessions, by an unlimited and
untimely surrender, not only of every one of the
objects of former restraints, but virtually of the
whole legislative power itself which had made them.
For it is not necessary to inform you, that the unfortunate Parliament of this kingdom did not dare
to qualify the very liberty she gave of trading with
? ? ? ? LETTER TO JOHN MERLOTT, ESQ. 237
her own plantations, by applying, of her own authority, any one of the commercial regulations to the
new traffic of Ireland, which bind us here under the
several Acts of Navigation. We were obliged to refer them to the Parliament of Ireland, as conditions,
just in the same manner as if we were bestowing
a privilege of the same sort on France and Spain,
or any other independent power, and, indeed, with
more studied caution than we should have used, not
to shock the principle of their independence. How
the minister reconciled the refusal to reason, and the
surrender to arms raised in defiance of the prerogatives of the crown, to his master, I know not: it has
probably been settled, in some way or other, between
themselves. But however the king and his ministers
may settle the question of his dignity and his rights,
I thought it became me, by vigilance and foresight,
to take care of yours: I thought I ought rather to
lighten the ship in time than expose it to a total
wreck. The conduct pursued seemed to me without weight or judgment, and more fit for a member
for Banbury than a member for Bristol. I stood,
therefore, silent with grief and vexation, on that day
of the signal shame and humiliation of this degraded
king and country. But it seems the pride of Ireland, in the day of her power, was equal to ours,
when we dreamt we were powerful too. I have been
abused there even for my silence, which was construed into a desire of exciting discontent in England. But, thank God, my letter to Bristol was in print, m7 sentiments on the policy of the measure
were known and determined, and such as no man
could think me absurd enough to contradict. When
I am no longer a free agent, I am obliged in the crowd
? ? ? ? 238 LETTER TO JOHN MERLOTT, ESQ.
to yield to necessity: it is surely enough that I silently submit to power; it is enough that I do not foolishly affront the conqueror; it is too hard to
force me to sing his praises, whilst I am led in triumph before him, -- or to make the panegyric of our own minister, who would put me neither in a condition to surrender with honor or to fight with the smallest hope of victory. I was, I confess, sullen and
silent on that day,- and shall continue so, until I
see some disposition to inquire into this and other
causes of the national disgrace. If I suffer in my
reputation for it in Ireland, I am sorry; but it neither does nor can affect me so nearly as my suffering in Bristol for having wished to unite the interests of
the two nations in a manner that would secure the
supremacy of this.
Will you have the goodness to excuse the length
of this letter? My earnest desire of explaining myself in every point which may affect the mind of
any worthy gentleman in Bristol is the cause of it.
To yourself, and to your liberal and manly notions,
I know it- is not so necessary. Believe me,
My dear Sir,
Your most faithful and obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, April 4th, 1780.
To JOHN MERLOTT, Esq. , Bristol.
? ? ? ? LETTERS AND REFLECTIONS ON THE
EXECUTIONS OF THE RIOTERS IN 1780.
? ? ? ? LETTERS.
To the Lord Chancellor.
IY LORD, -- I hope I am not too late with the
-I,1 inclosed slight'observations. If the execution
already ordered cannot be postponed, might I venture to recommend that it should extend to one only? and then the plan suggested in the inclosed
paper may, if your Lordship thinks well of it, take
place, with such improvements as your better judgment may dictate. As to fewness of the executions, and the good effects of that policy, I cannot, for my
own part, entertain the slightest doubt.
If you have no objection, and think it may not occupy more of his Majesty's time than such a thing is worth, I should not be sorry that the inclosed was put
into the king's hands.
I have the honor to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
CHARLES STREET, July 10, 1780.
To the Earl Bathurst, Lord President of the Council.
MY LORD,I came to town but yesterday, and therefore did
not learn more early the probable extent of the executions in consequence of the late disturbances. I VOL. Vl. 16
? ? ? ? 242 LETTERS ON THE EXECUTIONS
take the liberty of laying before you, with the sincerest deference to your judgment, what appeared to me very early as reasonable in this business. Further
thoughts have since occurred to me. I confess my
mind is under no small degree of solicitude and anxiety on the subject; I am fully persuaded that a proper use of mercy would not only recommend the
wisdom and steadiness of government, but, if properly used, might: be made a means of drawing out the principal movers in this wicked business, who have
hitherto eluded your scrutiny. I beg pardon for this
intrusion, and have the honor to be, with great regard and esteem,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
CHARLES STREET, July 18, 1780.
To Sir Grey Cooper, Bart. *
DEAR SIR,According to your desire, I send you a copy of the
few reflections on the subject of the present executions which occurred to me in the earliest period of the late disturbances, and which all my experience
and observation since have most strongly confirmed.
The executions, taking those which have been made,
which are now ordered, and which may be the natural consequence of the convictions in Surrey, will be undoubtedly too many to answer any good purpose.
Great slaughter attended the suppression of the tumults, and this ought to be taken in discount from
the execution of the law. For God's sake entreat of
* One of the Secretaries of the Treasury.
? ? ? ? OF THE RIOTERS IN 1780. 243
Lord North to take a view of the sum total of the
deaths, before any are ordered for execution; for by
not doing something of this kind people are decoyed
in detail into severities they never would have dreamed
of, if they had the whole in their view at once. The
scene in Surrey would have affected the hardest heart
that ever was in an human breast. Justice and mercy have not such opposite interests as people are apt to imagine. I saw Lord Loughborough last night.
He seemed strongly impressed with the sense of what
necessity obliged him to go through, and I believe
will enter into our ideas on the subject. On this matter you see that no time is to be lost. Before a final determination, the first thing I would recommend is,
that, if the very next execution cannot be delayed,
(by the way, I do not see why it may not,) it may be
of but a single person, and that afterwards you should
not exceed two or three; for it is enough for one riot,
where the very act of Parliament on which you pro.
ceed is rather a little hard in its sanctions and its
construction: not that I mean to complain of the lat.
ter as either new or strained, but it was rigid from
the first.
I am, dear Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
Tuesday, 18th July, 1780.
I really feel uneasy on this business, and should
consider it as a sort of personal favor, if you do some,
thing to limit the extent and severity of the law on
this point. Present my best compliments to Lord
North, and if he thinks that I have had wishes to be
serviceable to government on the late occasion, I shall
? ? ? ? 244 LETTERS ON THE EXECUTIONS.
on my part think myself abundantly rewarded, if a
few lives less than first intended should be saved
[taken? ]; I should sincerely set it down as a personal ob)ligation, though the thing stands upon general and strong reason of its own. * * It appears by the following extract from a letter written by the
Earl of Mansfield to Mr. Burke, dated the 17th July, 1780, that these
Reflections had also been communicated to him: -" I have received
the honor of your letter and very judicious thoughts. Having been so
greatly injured myself, I have thought it more decent not to attend
the reports, and consequently have not been present at any deliberation upon the subject. "
? ? ? ? SOME THOUGHTS
ON THE APPROACHING EXECUTIONS,
HUMBLY OFFERED TO CONSIDERATION.
AS the number of persons convicted on account
A-i- of the late unhappy tumults will probably exceed what any one's idea of vengeance or example would deliver to capital punishment, it is to be
wished that the whole business, as well with regard
to the number and description of those who are to
suffer death as with regard to those who shall be
delivered over to lighter punishment or wholly pardoned, should be entirely a work of reason.
It has happened frequently, in cases of this nature,
that the fate of the convicts has depended more upon the accidental circumstance of their being brought earlier or later to trial than to any steady principle
of equity applied to their several cases. Without
great care and sobriety, criminal justice generally begins with anger and ends in negligence. The first that are brought forward suffer the extremity of the
law, with circumstances of mitigation of their case;
and after a time, the most atrocious delinquents escape merely by the satiety of punishment.
In the business now before his Majesty, the following thoughts are humbly submitted.
If I understand the temper of the public at this
moment, a very great part of the lower and some of
? ? ? ? 246 THOUGHTS ON THE
the middling people of this city are in a very critical
disposition, and such as ought to be managed with
firmness and delicacy. In general, they rather approve than blame the principles of the rioters, though
the better sort of them are afraid of the consequences
of those very principles which they approve. This
keeps their minds in a suspended and anxious state,
which may very easily be exasperated by an inljudicious severity into desperate resolutions, - or by
weak measures on the part of government it may
be encouraged to the pursuit of courses which may
be of the most dangerous consequences to the public.
There is no doubt that the approaching executions
will very much determine the future conduct of those
people. They ought to be such as will humble, not
irritate. Nothing will make government more awful
to them than to see that it does not proceed by chance
or under the influence of passion.
It is therefore proposed that no execution should
be made until the number of persons which government thinks fit to try is completed. When the whole
is at once under the eye, an examination ought to be
made into the circumstances of every particular convict; and six, at the very utmost, of the fittest examples may then be selected for execution, who ought to be brought out and put to death on one and the
same day, in'six different places, and in the most
solemn manner that can be devised. Afterwards
great care should be taken that their bodies may not
be delivered to their friends, or to others who may
make them objects of compassion or even veneration:
some instances of the kind have happened with regard to the bodies of those killed in the riots. The
rest of the malefactors ought to be either condemned,
? ? ? ? APPROACHING EXECUTIONS. 247
for larger [longer? ] or shorter terms, to the lighters,
houses of correction, service in the navy, and the like,
according to the case.
This small number of executions, and all at one
time, though in different places, is seriously recommended; because it is certain that a great havoc among criminals hardens rather than subdues the
minds of people inclined to the same crimes, and
therefore fails of answering its purpose as an example. Men who see their lives respected and thought
of value by others come to respect that gift of God
themselves. To have compassion for oneself, or to
care, more or less, for one's own life, is a lesson to
be learned just as every other; and I believe it will
be found that conspiracies have been most common
and most desperate where their punishment has been
most extensive and most severe.
Besides, the least excess in this way excites a tenderness in the milder sort of people, which makes them consider government in an harsh and odious
light. The sense of justice in men is overloaded and
fatigued with a long series of executions, or with
such a carnage at once as rather resembles a massacre than a sober execution of the laws. The laws thus lose their terror in the minds of the wicked,
and their reverence in the minds of the virtuous.
I have ever observed that the execution of one mall
fixes the attention and excites awe; the execution
of multitudes dissipates and weakens the effect: but
men reason themselves into disapprobation and disgust; they compute more as they feel less; and every severe act which does not appear to be necessary is
sure to be offensive.
In selecting the criminals, a very different line
? ? ? ? 248 THOUGHTS ON THE
ought to be followed from that recommended by the
champions of the Protestant Association. They recommend that the offenders for plunder ought to be
punished, and the offenders from principle spared.
But the contrary rule ought to be followed. The
ordinary executions, of which there are enough in
conscience, are for the former species of delinquents;
but such common plunderers would furnish no example in the present case, where the false or pretended
principle of religion, which leads to crimes, is the
very thing to be discouraged.
But the reason which ought to make these people
objects of selection for punishment confines the selection to very few. For we must consider that the
whole nation has been for a long time guilty of their
crime. Toleration is a new virtue in any country.
It is a late ripe fruit in the best climates. We ought
to recollect the poison which, under the name of antidotes against Popery, and such like mountebank titles, has been circulated from our pulpits and from our presses, from the heads of the Church of England and the heads of the Dissenters. These publications, by degrees, have tended to drive all religion from our own minds, and to fill them with nothing but
a violent hatred of the religion of other people, and,
of course, with a hatred of their persons; and so, by
a very natural progression, they have led men to the
destruction of their goods and houses, and to attempts
upon their lives.
This delusion furnishes no reason for suffering that
abominable spirit to be kept alive by inflammatory
libels or seditious assemblies, or for government's
yielding to it, in the smallest degree, any point of
justice, equity, or sound policy. The king certainly
? ? ? ? APPROACHING EXECUTIONS. 249
ought not to give up any part of his subjects to the
prejudices of another. So far from it, I am clearly
of opinion that on the late occasion the Catholics
ought to have been taken, more avowedly than they
were, under the protection of government, as the
Dissenters had been on a similar occasion.
But though we ought to protect against violence
the bigotry of others, and to correct our own too, if
we have ally left, we ought to reflect, that an offence
which in its cause is nationlal ought not in its effects
to be vindicated on individuals, but with a very welltempered severity.
For my own part, I think the fire is not extinguished,-on the contrary, it seems to require the attention of government more than ever; but, as a
part of any methodical plan for extinguishing this
flame, it really seems necessary that the execution of
justice should be as steady and as cool as possible.
? ? ? ? SOME ADDITIONAL REFLECTIONS
ON THE EXECUTIONS.
THE great number of sufferers seems to arise from
the misfortune incident to the variety of judicatures which have tried the crimes. It were well, if
the whole had been the business of one commission;
for now every trial seems as if it were a separate
business, and in that light each offence is not punished with greater severity than single offences of the kind are commonly marked: but in reality and fact,
this unfortunate affair, though diversified in the multitude of overt acts, has been one and the same riot; and therefore the executions, so far as regards the
general effect on the minds of men, will have a reference to the unity of the offence, and will appear to be much more severe than such a riot, atrocious as it
was, can well justify in government. I pray that it
may be recollected that the chief delinquents have
hitherto escaped, and very many of those who are
fallen into the hands of justice are a poor, thoughtless
set of creatures, very little aware of the nature of
their offence. None of the list-makers, the assemblers of the mob, the directors and arrangers, have been convicted.
The preachers of mischief remain
safe, and are wicked enough not to feel for their deluded disciples, - no, not at all.
I would not plead the ignorance of the law in any,
? ? ? ? ADDITIONAL REFLECTIONS ON THE EXECUTIONS. 251 even the most ignorant, as a justification; but I am sure, that, when the question is of mercy, it is a very great and powerful argument. I have all the reason
in the world to believe that they did not know their
offence was capital.
There is one argument, which I beg may not be
considered as brought for any invidious purpose, or
meant as imputing blame anywhere, but which, I
think, with candid and considerate men, will have
much weight. The unfortunate delinquents were
perhaps much encouraged by some remissness on the
part of government itself. The absolute and entire
impunity attending the same offence in Edinburgh,
which was over and over again urged as an example and encouragement to these unfortunate people, might be a means of deluding them. Perhaps, too,
a languor in the beginning of the riots here (which
suffered the leaders to proceed, until very many, as
it were by the contagion of a sort of fashion, were
carried to these excesses) might make these people
think that there was something in the case which induced government to wink at the irregularity of the proceedings.
The conduct and condition of the Lord Mayor
ought, in my opinion, to be considered. His answers to Lord Beauchamp, to Mr. Malo, and to Mr. Langdale make him appear rather an accomplice in
the crimes than guilty of negligence as a magistrate.
Sllch an example set to the mob by the first magistrate of the city tends greatly to palliate their offence. The license, and complete impunity too, of the
publications which from the beginning instigated the
people to such actions, and in the midst of trials
and executions still continues, does in a great degree
? ? ? ? 252 ADDITIONAL REFLECTIONS
render these creatures an object of compassion. In
the Public Advertiser of this morning there are two
or three paragraphs strongly recommending such
outrages, and stimulating the people to violence
against the houses and persons of Roman Catholics,
and even against the chapels of the foreign ministers.
I would not go so far as to adopt the maxim, Quicquid rnultis peccatur inultum; but certainly offences committed by vast multitudes are somewhat palliated
in the individuals, who, when so many escape, are always looked upon rather as unlucky than criminal. All our loose ideas of justice, as it affects any individual, have in them something of comparison to the situation of others; and no systematic reasoning can
wholly free us from such impressions.
Phil. de Comines says our English civil wars were
less destructive than others, because the cry of the
conqueror always was, " Spare the common people. "
This principle of war should be at least as prevalent
in the execution of justice. The appetite of justice
is easily satisfied, and it is best nourished with the
least possible blood. We may, too, recollect that between capital punishment and total impunity there are many stages.
Oni the whole, every circumstance of mercy, and of
comparative justice, does, in my opinion, plead in favor of such low, untaught, or ill-taught wretches. But above all, the policy of government is deeply
interested that the punishments should appear one,
solemn, deliberate act, aimed not at random, and at
particular offences, but done with a relation to the
general spirit of the tumults; and they ought to be
nothing more than what is sufficient to mark and
discoulntenance that spirit.
? ? ? ? ON THE EXECUTIONS. 253
CIRCUMSTANCES FOR MERCY.
Not being principal.
Probable want of early and deliberate purposes. Youth where the highest malice does not appear. Sex
Intoxication and levity, or mere wantonness of any kind.
? ? ? ? LETTER
TO
THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS,
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES OF STATE. WITH THE
SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE.
1 792.
? ? ? ? LETTER.
DEAR SIR,- I should have been punctual in
sending you the sketch I promised of my old
African Code, if some friends from London had not
come in upon me last Saturday, and engaged me till
noon this day: I send this packet by one of them who
is still here. If what I send be, as under present circumstances it must be, imperfect, you will excuse it, as being done near twelve years ago. About four
years since I made an abstract of it, upon which I
cannot at present lay my hands; but I hope the marginal heads will in some measure supply it.
If the African trade could be considered with regard to itself only, and as a single object, I should
think the utter abolition to be on the whole more
advisable than any scheme of regulation and reform.
Rather than suffer it to continue as it is, I heartily
wish it at an end. What has been lately done has
been done by a popular spirit, which seldom calls for,
and indeed very rarely relishes, a system made up of
a great variety of parts, and which is to operate its
effect in a great length of time. The people like
short methods; the consequences of which they sometimes have reason to repent of. Abolition is but a single act. To prove the- nature of the trade, and to
expose it properly, required, indeed, a vast collection
cf materials, which have been laboriously collected,
and compiled with great judgment. It required also,
VOL. VI. 17
? ? ? ? 25S LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS.
much perseverance and address to excite the spirit
which has been excited without doors, and which has
carried it through. The greatest eloquence ever displayed in the House has been employed to second the efforts which have been made abroad. All this, however, leads but to one single resolve. When this was done, all was done. I speak of absolute and immediate abolition, the point which the first motions went to, and which is in effect still pressed; though in this
session, according to order, it cannot take effect. A
remote, and a gradual abolition, though they may be
connected, are not the same thing. The idea of the
House seems to me, if I rightly comprehend it, that
the two things are to be combined: that is to say,
that the trade is gradually to decline, and to cease
entirely at a determinate period. To make the abolition gradual, the regulations must' operate as a strong discouragement. But it is much to be feared that a
trade continued and discouraged, and with a sentence of death passed upon it, will perpetuate much ill blood between those who struggle for the abolition and those who contend for an effectual continuance.
At the time when I formed the plan which I have. the honor to transmit to you, an abolition of the slave trade would have appeared a very chimerical project.
My plan, therefore, supposes the continued existence
of that commerce. Taking for my basis that I had. an incurable evil to deal with, I cast about how ] should make it as small an evil as possible, and dram
out of it some collateral good.
In turning the matter over in my mind at that time and since, I never was able to consider the Africai trade upon a ground disconnected with the employ ment of negroes in the West Indies, and distinct fron
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS. 259
their condition In the plantations whereon they serve.
I conceived that the true origin of the trade was not
in the place it was begun at, but at the place of its
final destination. I therefore was, and I still am, of
opinion that the whole work ought to be taken up
together, and that a gradual abolition of slavery in
the West Indies ought to go hand in hand with anything which should be done with regard to its supply from the coast of Afiica. I could not trust a cessation
of the demand for this supply to the mere operation
of anlly abstract principle, (such as, that, if their supply was cut off, the planters would encourage and produce an effectual population,) knowing that noth.
ing can be more uncertain than the operation of gelneral principles, if they are not embodied in specific regulations. I am very apprehensive, that, so long
as the slavery continues, some means for its supply
will be found. If so, I am persuaded that it is better
to allow the evil, in order to correct it, than, by endeavoring to forbid wliat we cannot be able wholly to prevent, to leave it under an illegal, and therefore an
unreformed existence. It is not that my plan does
not lead to the extinction of the slave trade, but it is
through a very slow progress, the chief effect of which
is to be operated in our own plantations, by rendering,
in a length of time, all foreign supply unnecessary.
It was my wish, whilst the slavery continued, and the
consequent commerce, to take such measures as to
civilize the coast of Africa by the trade, which now
renders it more barbarous, and to lead by degrees to
a more reputable, and, possibly, a more profitable connection with it, than we maintain at present.
I am sure that you will consider as a mark of my
confidence in yours and Mr. Pitt's honor and gen
? ? ? ? 260 LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS.
erosity, that I venture to put into your hands a
scheme composed of many and intricate combinations, without a full explanatory preface, or any attendant notes, to point out the principles upon which I proceeded in every regulation which I have proposed towards the civilization and gradual manumission of negroes in the two hemispheres. I confess
I trust infinitely more (according to the sound principles of those who ever have at any time meliorated
the state of mankind) to the effect and influence of
religion than to all the rest of the regulations put
together.
Whenever, in my proposed reformation, we take
our point of departure from a state of slavery, we
must precede the donation of freedom by disposing
the minds of the objects to a disposition to receive
it without danger to themselves or to us. The process of bringing free savages to order and civilization is very different. When a state of slavery is
that upon which we are to work, the very means
which lead to liberty must partake of compulsion.
The minds of men, being crippled with that restraint, can do nothing for themselves: everything
must be done for them. The regulations can owe
little to consent. Everything must be the creature
of power. Hence it is that regulations must be
multiplied, particularly as you have two parties to
deal with. The planter you must at once restrain
and support, and you must control at the same
time that you ease the servant. This necessarily
makes the work a matter of care, labor, and expense. It becomes in its nature complex. But I
think neither the object impracticable nor the expense intolerable; and I am fully convinced that
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS. 261
the cause of humanity would be far more benefited
by the continuance of the trade and servitude, regulated and reformed, than by the total destruction of both or either. What I propose, however, is but
a beginning of a course of measures which an experience of the effects of the evil and the reform will enable the legislature hereafter to supply and correct.
I need not observe to you, that the forms are often neglected, penalties not provided, &c. , &c. , &c. But all this is merely mechanical, and what a couple
of days' application would set to rights.
I have seen what has been done by the West Indian Assemblies. It is arrant trifling. They have
done little; and what they have done is good for
nothing, -- for it is totally destitute of an executory
principle. This is the point to which I have applied
my whole diligence. It is easy enough to say what
shall be done: to cause it to be done, --hic labor,
hoc opus.
I ought not to apologize for letting this scheme
lie beyond the period of the Horatian keeping, --I
ought mIuch more to entreat an excuse for producing it now. Its whole value (if it has any) is the coherence and mutual dependency of parts in the
scheme; separately they can be of little or no use.
I have the honor to be, with very great respect
and regard,
Dear Sir,
Your most faithful and obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, Easter-Monday night, 1792.
? ? ? ? SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE.
THIS constitution consists of four principal members.
1. The rules for qualifying a ship for the Africali
trade.
II. The mode of carrying on the trade upon the
coast of Africa, which includes a plan for introducing
civilization in that part of the world.
III. What is to be observed from the time of shipping negroes to the sale in the West India islands.
IV. Tile regulations relative to the state and condition of slaves in the West Indies, their manumission, &c. Preamble. WHEREAS it is expedient, and comformable
to the principles of true religion and morality, and
to the rules of sound policy, to put an end to all
traffic in the persons of men, and to the detention of
their said persons in a state of slavery, as soon as the
same may be effected without producing great inconveniences in the sudden change of practices of such long standing, and during the time of the continuance of the said practices it is desirable and expedient by proper regulations to lessen the inconveniences
and evils attendant on the said traffic and state of
servitude, until both shall be gradually done away:
And whereas the objects of the said trade and
consequential servitude, and the grievances resulting
? ? ? ? SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE. 263
therefrom, come under the principal heads following,
the regulations ought thereto to be severally applied:
that is to say, that provision should be made by the
said regulations,
1st, For duly qualifying ships for the said traffic;
2nd, For the mode and conditions of permitting
the said trade to be carried on upon the coast of
Africa;
3rd, For the treatment of the negroes in their passage to the West India islands;
4th, For the government of the negroes which are
or shall be employed in his Majesty's colonies and
plantations in the West Indies:
Be it therefore enacted, that every ship Shipstobe
or trading vessel which is intended for the registered.
negro trade, with the name of the owner or owners
thereof, shall be entered and registered as ships trading to the West Indies are by law to be registered, with the further provisions following:
1. The same entry and register shall con- Measured
and surtain an account of the greatest number of veyed.
negroes of all descriptions which are proposed to be
taken into the said ship or trading vessel; and the
said ship, before she is permitted to be entered outwards, shall be surveyed by a ship-carpenter, to be appointed by the collector of the port from which the
said vessel is to depart, and by a surgeon, also appointed by the collector, who hath been conversant in the service of the said trade, but not at the time actually engaged or covenanted therein; and the said carpenter and surgeon shall report to the collector,
or in his absence, to the next principal officer of the
port, upon oath, (which oath the said collector or
principal officer is hereby empowered to administer,):
? ? ? ? 264 SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE.
her measurement, and what she contains in builder's
tonnage, and that she has - feet of grated portholes between the decks, and that she is otherwise fitly found as a good transport vessel.
Numberof 2. And be it enacted, that no ship emslaves
limited. ployed in the said trade shall upon any pretence take in more negroes than one grown man or woman for one ton and half of builder's tonnage, nor
more than one boy or girl for one ton.
Provisions. 3. That the said ship or other vessel shall
lay in, in proportion to the ship's company of the said
vessel, and the number of negroes registered, a full
and sufficient store of sound provision, so as to be
secure against all probable delays and accidents,
namely, salted beef, pork, salt-fish, butter, cheese,
biscuit, flour, rice, oat-meal, and white peas, but no
horse-beans, or other inferior provisions; and the said
ship shall be properly provided with water-casks or
jars, in proportion to the intended number of the said
negroes; and the said ship shall be also provided
with a proper and sufficient stock of coals or firewood.
Stores. 4. And every ship entered as aforesaid
shall take out a coarse shirt and a pair of trousers,
or petticoat, for each negro intended to be taken
aboard; as also a mat, or coarse mattress, or hammock, for the use of the said negroes.
The proportions of provision, fuel, and clothing to
be regulated by the table annexed to this act.
Certificate 5. And be it enacted, that no ship shall
thereof.
be permitted to proceed on the said voyage
or adventure, until the searcher of the port friom
whence the said vessel shall sail, or such person as
he shall appoint to act for him, shall report to the
? ? ? ? SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE. 265
collector that he hath inspected the said stores, and
that the ship is accommodated and provided in the
manner hereby directed.
6. And be it enacted, that no guns be Gunsfor
trade to be
exported to the coast of Africa, in the said inspected.
or any other trade, unless the same be duly marked
with the maker's name on the barrels before they
are put into the stocks, and vouched by an inspector
in the place where the same are made to be without fraud, and sufficient and merchantable arms.
7. And be it enacted, that, before any Ownersand
masters to
ship as aforesaid shall proceed on her voy- enter into
bonds.
age, the owner or owners, or an attorney
by them named, if the owners are more than two,
and the master, shall severally give bond, the owners by themselves, the master for himself, that the said master shall duly conform himself in all things
to the regulations in this act contained, so far as the
same regards his part in executing and conforming
to the same.
II. And whereas, in providing for the second object of this act, that is to say, for the trade on the
coast of Africa, it is first prudent not only to provide against the manifold abuses to which a trade
of that nature is liable, but that the same may be
accompanied, as far as it is possible, with such advantages to the natives as may tend to the civilizing them, and enabling them to enrich themselves by
means more desirable, and to carry on hereafter a
trade more advantageous and honorable to all parties:
And whereas religion, order, morality, and virtue
are the elemental principles, and the knowledge of
? ? ? ? 266 SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE,
letters, arts, and handicraft trades, the chief means
of such civilization and improvement: for the better attainment of the said good purposes,
Marts to be 1. Be it hereby enacted, that the coast
established
on thecoast.
live in any habits with my old friend, the Provost,
I shall be glad that he, too, sees this my humble
apology.
Adieu! once more accept my best thanks for the
interest you take in me. Believe that it is received
by an heart not yet so old as to have lost its susceptibility. A11 here give you the best old-fashioned
? ? ? ? 234 LETTER TO THOMAS BURGH, ESQ.
wishes of the season; and believe me, with the greatest truth and regard, My dear Sir,
Your most faithful and obliged humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, New Year's Day, 1780.
I am frightened at the trouble I give you and our
friends; but I recollect that you are mostly lawyers,
and habituated to read long, tiresome papers - and,
where your friendship is concerned, without a fee;
I am sure, too, that you will not act the lawyer in
scrutinizing too minutely every expression which my
haste may make me use. I forgot to mention my
friend O'Hara, and others; but you will communicate it as you please.
? ? ? ? LETTE R
TO JOHN MERLOTT, ESQ. *
DEAR SIR,-I am very unhappy to find that
my conduct in the business of Ireland, on a former occasion, had made many to be cold and indifferent who would otherwise have been warm in my favor. I really thought that events would have produced a quite contrary effect, and would have proved
to all the inhabitants of Bristol that it was no desire
of opposing myself to their wishes, but a certain
knowledge of the necessity of their affairs, and a
tender regard to their honor and interest, which induced me to take the part which I then took. They
placed me in a situation which might enable me to
discern what was fit to be done, on a consideration
of the relative circumstances of this country and all
its neighbors. This was what you could not so well
do yourselves; but you had a right to expect that
I should avail myself of the advantage which I derived from your favor. Under the impression of
this duty and this trust, I had endeavored to render, by preventive graces and concessions, every act
of power at the same time an act of lenity, - the
result of English bounty, and not of English timidity
and distress. I really flattered myself that the events
*An eminent merchant in the city of Bristol, of which Mr. Burke
was one of the representatives in Parliament. - It relates to the same
subject as the preceding Letter.
? ? ? ? 236 LETTER TO JOHN MERLOTT, ESQ.
which have proved beyond dispute the prudence of
such a maxim would have obtained pardon for me,
if not approbation. But if I have not been so fortunate, I do most sincerely regret my great loss,with this comfort, however, that, if I have disobliged my constituents, it was not in pursuit of any sinister interest or any party passion of my own, but in
endeavoring to save them from disgrace, along with
the whole community to which they and I belong.
I shall be concerned for this, and very much so;
but I should be more concerned, if, in gratifying a
present humor of theirs, I had rendered myself unworthy of their former or their future choice. I
confess that I could not bear to face my constituents
at the next general election, if I had been a rival
to Lord North in the glory of having refused some
small, insignificant concessions, in favor of Ireland,
to the arguments and supplications of English members of Parliament, - and in the very next session,
on the demand of forty thousand Irish bayonets, of
having made a speech of two hours long to prove
that my former conduct was founded upon no one
right principle, either of policy, justice, or commerce.
I never heard a more elaborate, more able, more convincing, and more shameful speech. The debater
obtained credit, but the statesman was disgraced
forever. Amends were made for having refused
small, but timely concessions, by an unlimited and
untimely surrender, not only of every one of the
objects of former restraints, but virtually of the
whole legislative power itself which had made them.
For it is not necessary to inform you, that the unfortunate Parliament of this kingdom did not dare
to qualify the very liberty she gave of trading with
? ? ? ? LETTER TO JOHN MERLOTT, ESQ. 237
her own plantations, by applying, of her own authority, any one of the commercial regulations to the
new traffic of Ireland, which bind us here under the
several Acts of Navigation. We were obliged to refer them to the Parliament of Ireland, as conditions,
just in the same manner as if we were bestowing
a privilege of the same sort on France and Spain,
or any other independent power, and, indeed, with
more studied caution than we should have used, not
to shock the principle of their independence. How
the minister reconciled the refusal to reason, and the
surrender to arms raised in defiance of the prerogatives of the crown, to his master, I know not: it has
probably been settled, in some way or other, between
themselves. But however the king and his ministers
may settle the question of his dignity and his rights,
I thought it became me, by vigilance and foresight,
to take care of yours: I thought I ought rather to
lighten the ship in time than expose it to a total
wreck. The conduct pursued seemed to me without weight or judgment, and more fit for a member
for Banbury than a member for Bristol. I stood,
therefore, silent with grief and vexation, on that day
of the signal shame and humiliation of this degraded
king and country. But it seems the pride of Ireland, in the day of her power, was equal to ours,
when we dreamt we were powerful too. I have been
abused there even for my silence, which was construed into a desire of exciting discontent in England. But, thank God, my letter to Bristol was in print, m7 sentiments on the policy of the measure
were known and determined, and such as no man
could think me absurd enough to contradict. When
I am no longer a free agent, I am obliged in the crowd
? ? ? ? 238 LETTER TO JOHN MERLOTT, ESQ.
to yield to necessity: it is surely enough that I silently submit to power; it is enough that I do not foolishly affront the conqueror; it is too hard to
force me to sing his praises, whilst I am led in triumph before him, -- or to make the panegyric of our own minister, who would put me neither in a condition to surrender with honor or to fight with the smallest hope of victory. I was, I confess, sullen and
silent on that day,- and shall continue so, until I
see some disposition to inquire into this and other
causes of the national disgrace. If I suffer in my
reputation for it in Ireland, I am sorry; but it neither does nor can affect me so nearly as my suffering in Bristol for having wished to unite the interests of
the two nations in a manner that would secure the
supremacy of this.
Will you have the goodness to excuse the length
of this letter? My earnest desire of explaining myself in every point which may affect the mind of
any worthy gentleman in Bristol is the cause of it.
To yourself, and to your liberal and manly notions,
I know it- is not so necessary. Believe me,
My dear Sir,
Your most faithful and obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, April 4th, 1780.
To JOHN MERLOTT, Esq. , Bristol.
? ? ? ? LETTERS AND REFLECTIONS ON THE
EXECUTIONS OF THE RIOTERS IN 1780.
? ? ? ? LETTERS.
To the Lord Chancellor.
IY LORD, -- I hope I am not too late with the
-I,1 inclosed slight'observations. If the execution
already ordered cannot be postponed, might I venture to recommend that it should extend to one only? and then the plan suggested in the inclosed
paper may, if your Lordship thinks well of it, take
place, with such improvements as your better judgment may dictate. As to fewness of the executions, and the good effects of that policy, I cannot, for my
own part, entertain the slightest doubt.
If you have no objection, and think it may not occupy more of his Majesty's time than such a thing is worth, I should not be sorry that the inclosed was put
into the king's hands.
I have the honor to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
CHARLES STREET, July 10, 1780.
To the Earl Bathurst, Lord President of the Council.
MY LORD,I came to town but yesterday, and therefore did
not learn more early the probable extent of the executions in consequence of the late disturbances. I VOL. Vl. 16
? ? ? ? 242 LETTERS ON THE EXECUTIONS
take the liberty of laying before you, with the sincerest deference to your judgment, what appeared to me very early as reasonable in this business. Further
thoughts have since occurred to me. I confess my
mind is under no small degree of solicitude and anxiety on the subject; I am fully persuaded that a proper use of mercy would not only recommend the
wisdom and steadiness of government, but, if properly used, might: be made a means of drawing out the principal movers in this wicked business, who have
hitherto eluded your scrutiny. I beg pardon for this
intrusion, and have the honor to be, with great regard and esteem,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
CHARLES STREET, July 18, 1780.
To Sir Grey Cooper, Bart. *
DEAR SIR,According to your desire, I send you a copy of the
few reflections on the subject of the present executions which occurred to me in the earliest period of the late disturbances, and which all my experience
and observation since have most strongly confirmed.
The executions, taking those which have been made,
which are now ordered, and which may be the natural consequence of the convictions in Surrey, will be undoubtedly too many to answer any good purpose.
Great slaughter attended the suppression of the tumults, and this ought to be taken in discount from
the execution of the law. For God's sake entreat of
* One of the Secretaries of the Treasury.
? ? ? ? OF THE RIOTERS IN 1780. 243
Lord North to take a view of the sum total of the
deaths, before any are ordered for execution; for by
not doing something of this kind people are decoyed
in detail into severities they never would have dreamed
of, if they had the whole in their view at once. The
scene in Surrey would have affected the hardest heart
that ever was in an human breast. Justice and mercy have not such opposite interests as people are apt to imagine. I saw Lord Loughborough last night.
He seemed strongly impressed with the sense of what
necessity obliged him to go through, and I believe
will enter into our ideas on the subject. On this matter you see that no time is to be lost. Before a final determination, the first thing I would recommend is,
that, if the very next execution cannot be delayed,
(by the way, I do not see why it may not,) it may be
of but a single person, and that afterwards you should
not exceed two or three; for it is enough for one riot,
where the very act of Parliament on which you pro.
ceed is rather a little hard in its sanctions and its
construction: not that I mean to complain of the lat.
ter as either new or strained, but it was rigid from
the first.
I am, dear Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
Tuesday, 18th July, 1780.
I really feel uneasy on this business, and should
consider it as a sort of personal favor, if you do some,
thing to limit the extent and severity of the law on
this point. Present my best compliments to Lord
North, and if he thinks that I have had wishes to be
serviceable to government on the late occasion, I shall
? ? ? ? 244 LETTERS ON THE EXECUTIONS.
on my part think myself abundantly rewarded, if a
few lives less than first intended should be saved
[taken? ]; I should sincerely set it down as a personal ob)ligation, though the thing stands upon general and strong reason of its own. * * It appears by the following extract from a letter written by the
Earl of Mansfield to Mr. Burke, dated the 17th July, 1780, that these
Reflections had also been communicated to him: -" I have received
the honor of your letter and very judicious thoughts. Having been so
greatly injured myself, I have thought it more decent not to attend
the reports, and consequently have not been present at any deliberation upon the subject. "
? ? ? ? SOME THOUGHTS
ON THE APPROACHING EXECUTIONS,
HUMBLY OFFERED TO CONSIDERATION.
AS the number of persons convicted on account
A-i- of the late unhappy tumults will probably exceed what any one's idea of vengeance or example would deliver to capital punishment, it is to be
wished that the whole business, as well with regard
to the number and description of those who are to
suffer death as with regard to those who shall be
delivered over to lighter punishment or wholly pardoned, should be entirely a work of reason.
It has happened frequently, in cases of this nature,
that the fate of the convicts has depended more upon the accidental circumstance of their being brought earlier or later to trial than to any steady principle
of equity applied to their several cases. Without
great care and sobriety, criminal justice generally begins with anger and ends in negligence. The first that are brought forward suffer the extremity of the
law, with circumstances of mitigation of their case;
and after a time, the most atrocious delinquents escape merely by the satiety of punishment.
In the business now before his Majesty, the following thoughts are humbly submitted.
If I understand the temper of the public at this
moment, a very great part of the lower and some of
? ? ? ? 246 THOUGHTS ON THE
the middling people of this city are in a very critical
disposition, and such as ought to be managed with
firmness and delicacy. In general, they rather approve than blame the principles of the rioters, though
the better sort of them are afraid of the consequences
of those very principles which they approve. This
keeps their minds in a suspended and anxious state,
which may very easily be exasperated by an inljudicious severity into desperate resolutions, - or by
weak measures on the part of government it may
be encouraged to the pursuit of courses which may
be of the most dangerous consequences to the public.
There is no doubt that the approaching executions
will very much determine the future conduct of those
people. They ought to be such as will humble, not
irritate. Nothing will make government more awful
to them than to see that it does not proceed by chance
or under the influence of passion.
It is therefore proposed that no execution should
be made until the number of persons which government thinks fit to try is completed. When the whole
is at once under the eye, an examination ought to be
made into the circumstances of every particular convict; and six, at the very utmost, of the fittest examples may then be selected for execution, who ought to be brought out and put to death on one and the
same day, in'six different places, and in the most
solemn manner that can be devised. Afterwards
great care should be taken that their bodies may not
be delivered to their friends, or to others who may
make them objects of compassion or even veneration:
some instances of the kind have happened with regard to the bodies of those killed in the riots. The
rest of the malefactors ought to be either condemned,
? ? ? ? APPROACHING EXECUTIONS. 247
for larger [longer? ] or shorter terms, to the lighters,
houses of correction, service in the navy, and the like,
according to the case.
This small number of executions, and all at one
time, though in different places, is seriously recommended; because it is certain that a great havoc among criminals hardens rather than subdues the
minds of people inclined to the same crimes, and
therefore fails of answering its purpose as an example. Men who see their lives respected and thought
of value by others come to respect that gift of God
themselves. To have compassion for oneself, or to
care, more or less, for one's own life, is a lesson to
be learned just as every other; and I believe it will
be found that conspiracies have been most common
and most desperate where their punishment has been
most extensive and most severe.
Besides, the least excess in this way excites a tenderness in the milder sort of people, which makes them consider government in an harsh and odious
light. The sense of justice in men is overloaded and
fatigued with a long series of executions, or with
such a carnage at once as rather resembles a massacre than a sober execution of the laws. The laws thus lose their terror in the minds of the wicked,
and their reverence in the minds of the virtuous.
I have ever observed that the execution of one mall
fixes the attention and excites awe; the execution
of multitudes dissipates and weakens the effect: but
men reason themselves into disapprobation and disgust; they compute more as they feel less; and every severe act which does not appear to be necessary is
sure to be offensive.
In selecting the criminals, a very different line
? ? ? ? 248 THOUGHTS ON THE
ought to be followed from that recommended by the
champions of the Protestant Association. They recommend that the offenders for plunder ought to be
punished, and the offenders from principle spared.
But the contrary rule ought to be followed. The
ordinary executions, of which there are enough in
conscience, are for the former species of delinquents;
but such common plunderers would furnish no example in the present case, where the false or pretended
principle of religion, which leads to crimes, is the
very thing to be discouraged.
But the reason which ought to make these people
objects of selection for punishment confines the selection to very few. For we must consider that the
whole nation has been for a long time guilty of their
crime. Toleration is a new virtue in any country.
It is a late ripe fruit in the best climates. We ought
to recollect the poison which, under the name of antidotes against Popery, and such like mountebank titles, has been circulated from our pulpits and from our presses, from the heads of the Church of England and the heads of the Dissenters. These publications, by degrees, have tended to drive all religion from our own minds, and to fill them with nothing but
a violent hatred of the religion of other people, and,
of course, with a hatred of their persons; and so, by
a very natural progression, they have led men to the
destruction of their goods and houses, and to attempts
upon their lives.
This delusion furnishes no reason for suffering that
abominable spirit to be kept alive by inflammatory
libels or seditious assemblies, or for government's
yielding to it, in the smallest degree, any point of
justice, equity, or sound policy. The king certainly
? ? ? ? APPROACHING EXECUTIONS. 249
ought not to give up any part of his subjects to the
prejudices of another. So far from it, I am clearly
of opinion that on the late occasion the Catholics
ought to have been taken, more avowedly than they
were, under the protection of government, as the
Dissenters had been on a similar occasion.
But though we ought to protect against violence
the bigotry of others, and to correct our own too, if
we have ally left, we ought to reflect, that an offence
which in its cause is nationlal ought not in its effects
to be vindicated on individuals, but with a very welltempered severity.
For my own part, I think the fire is not extinguished,-on the contrary, it seems to require the attention of government more than ever; but, as a
part of any methodical plan for extinguishing this
flame, it really seems necessary that the execution of
justice should be as steady and as cool as possible.
? ? ? ? SOME ADDITIONAL REFLECTIONS
ON THE EXECUTIONS.
THE great number of sufferers seems to arise from
the misfortune incident to the variety of judicatures which have tried the crimes. It were well, if
the whole had been the business of one commission;
for now every trial seems as if it were a separate
business, and in that light each offence is not punished with greater severity than single offences of the kind are commonly marked: but in reality and fact,
this unfortunate affair, though diversified in the multitude of overt acts, has been one and the same riot; and therefore the executions, so far as regards the
general effect on the minds of men, will have a reference to the unity of the offence, and will appear to be much more severe than such a riot, atrocious as it
was, can well justify in government. I pray that it
may be recollected that the chief delinquents have
hitherto escaped, and very many of those who are
fallen into the hands of justice are a poor, thoughtless
set of creatures, very little aware of the nature of
their offence. None of the list-makers, the assemblers of the mob, the directors and arrangers, have been convicted.
The preachers of mischief remain
safe, and are wicked enough not to feel for their deluded disciples, - no, not at all.
I would not plead the ignorance of the law in any,
? ? ? ? ADDITIONAL REFLECTIONS ON THE EXECUTIONS. 251 even the most ignorant, as a justification; but I am sure, that, when the question is of mercy, it is a very great and powerful argument. I have all the reason
in the world to believe that they did not know their
offence was capital.
There is one argument, which I beg may not be
considered as brought for any invidious purpose, or
meant as imputing blame anywhere, but which, I
think, with candid and considerate men, will have
much weight. The unfortunate delinquents were
perhaps much encouraged by some remissness on the
part of government itself. The absolute and entire
impunity attending the same offence in Edinburgh,
which was over and over again urged as an example and encouragement to these unfortunate people, might be a means of deluding them. Perhaps, too,
a languor in the beginning of the riots here (which
suffered the leaders to proceed, until very many, as
it were by the contagion of a sort of fashion, were
carried to these excesses) might make these people
think that there was something in the case which induced government to wink at the irregularity of the proceedings.
The conduct and condition of the Lord Mayor
ought, in my opinion, to be considered. His answers to Lord Beauchamp, to Mr. Malo, and to Mr. Langdale make him appear rather an accomplice in
the crimes than guilty of negligence as a magistrate.
Sllch an example set to the mob by the first magistrate of the city tends greatly to palliate their offence. The license, and complete impunity too, of the
publications which from the beginning instigated the
people to such actions, and in the midst of trials
and executions still continues, does in a great degree
? ? ? ? 252 ADDITIONAL REFLECTIONS
render these creatures an object of compassion. In
the Public Advertiser of this morning there are two
or three paragraphs strongly recommending such
outrages, and stimulating the people to violence
against the houses and persons of Roman Catholics,
and even against the chapels of the foreign ministers.
I would not go so far as to adopt the maxim, Quicquid rnultis peccatur inultum; but certainly offences committed by vast multitudes are somewhat palliated
in the individuals, who, when so many escape, are always looked upon rather as unlucky than criminal. All our loose ideas of justice, as it affects any individual, have in them something of comparison to the situation of others; and no systematic reasoning can
wholly free us from such impressions.
Phil. de Comines says our English civil wars were
less destructive than others, because the cry of the
conqueror always was, " Spare the common people. "
This principle of war should be at least as prevalent
in the execution of justice. The appetite of justice
is easily satisfied, and it is best nourished with the
least possible blood. We may, too, recollect that between capital punishment and total impunity there are many stages.
Oni the whole, every circumstance of mercy, and of
comparative justice, does, in my opinion, plead in favor of such low, untaught, or ill-taught wretches. But above all, the policy of government is deeply
interested that the punishments should appear one,
solemn, deliberate act, aimed not at random, and at
particular offences, but done with a relation to the
general spirit of the tumults; and they ought to be
nothing more than what is sufficient to mark and
discoulntenance that spirit.
? ? ? ? ON THE EXECUTIONS. 253
CIRCUMSTANCES FOR MERCY.
Not being principal.
Probable want of early and deliberate purposes. Youth where the highest malice does not appear. Sex
Intoxication and levity, or mere wantonness of any kind.
? ? ? ? LETTER
TO
THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS,
ONE OF HIS MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARIES OF STATE. WITH THE
SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE.
1 792.
? ? ? ? LETTER.
DEAR SIR,- I should have been punctual in
sending you the sketch I promised of my old
African Code, if some friends from London had not
come in upon me last Saturday, and engaged me till
noon this day: I send this packet by one of them who
is still here. If what I send be, as under present circumstances it must be, imperfect, you will excuse it, as being done near twelve years ago. About four
years since I made an abstract of it, upon which I
cannot at present lay my hands; but I hope the marginal heads will in some measure supply it.
If the African trade could be considered with regard to itself only, and as a single object, I should
think the utter abolition to be on the whole more
advisable than any scheme of regulation and reform.
Rather than suffer it to continue as it is, I heartily
wish it at an end. What has been lately done has
been done by a popular spirit, which seldom calls for,
and indeed very rarely relishes, a system made up of
a great variety of parts, and which is to operate its
effect in a great length of time. The people like
short methods; the consequences of which they sometimes have reason to repent of. Abolition is but a single act. To prove the- nature of the trade, and to
expose it properly, required, indeed, a vast collection
cf materials, which have been laboriously collected,
and compiled with great judgment. It required also,
VOL. VI. 17
? ? ? ? 25S LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS.
much perseverance and address to excite the spirit
which has been excited without doors, and which has
carried it through. The greatest eloquence ever displayed in the House has been employed to second the efforts which have been made abroad. All this, however, leads but to one single resolve. When this was done, all was done. I speak of absolute and immediate abolition, the point which the first motions went to, and which is in effect still pressed; though in this
session, according to order, it cannot take effect. A
remote, and a gradual abolition, though they may be
connected, are not the same thing. The idea of the
House seems to me, if I rightly comprehend it, that
the two things are to be combined: that is to say,
that the trade is gradually to decline, and to cease
entirely at a determinate period. To make the abolition gradual, the regulations must' operate as a strong discouragement. But it is much to be feared that a
trade continued and discouraged, and with a sentence of death passed upon it, will perpetuate much ill blood between those who struggle for the abolition and those who contend for an effectual continuance.
At the time when I formed the plan which I have. the honor to transmit to you, an abolition of the slave trade would have appeared a very chimerical project.
My plan, therefore, supposes the continued existence
of that commerce. Taking for my basis that I had. an incurable evil to deal with, I cast about how ] should make it as small an evil as possible, and dram
out of it some collateral good.
In turning the matter over in my mind at that time and since, I never was able to consider the Africai trade upon a ground disconnected with the employ ment of negroes in the West Indies, and distinct fron
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS. 259
their condition In the plantations whereon they serve.
I conceived that the true origin of the trade was not
in the place it was begun at, but at the place of its
final destination. I therefore was, and I still am, of
opinion that the whole work ought to be taken up
together, and that a gradual abolition of slavery in
the West Indies ought to go hand in hand with anything which should be done with regard to its supply from the coast of Afiica. I could not trust a cessation
of the demand for this supply to the mere operation
of anlly abstract principle, (such as, that, if their supply was cut off, the planters would encourage and produce an effectual population,) knowing that noth.
ing can be more uncertain than the operation of gelneral principles, if they are not embodied in specific regulations. I am very apprehensive, that, so long
as the slavery continues, some means for its supply
will be found. If so, I am persuaded that it is better
to allow the evil, in order to correct it, than, by endeavoring to forbid wliat we cannot be able wholly to prevent, to leave it under an illegal, and therefore an
unreformed existence. It is not that my plan does
not lead to the extinction of the slave trade, but it is
through a very slow progress, the chief effect of which
is to be operated in our own plantations, by rendering,
in a length of time, all foreign supply unnecessary.
It was my wish, whilst the slavery continued, and the
consequent commerce, to take such measures as to
civilize the coast of Africa by the trade, which now
renders it more barbarous, and to lead by degrees to
a more reputable, and, possibly, a more profitable connection with it, than we maintain at present.
I am sure that you will consider as a mark of my
confidence in yours and Mr. Pitt's honor and gen
? ? ? ? 260 LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS.
erosity, that I venture to put into your hands a
scheme composed of many and intricate combinations, without a full explanatory preface, or any attendant notes, to point out the principles upon which I proceeded in every regulation which I have proposed towards the civilization and gradual manumission of negroes in the two hemispheres. I confess
I trust infinitely more (according to the sound principles of those who ever have at any time meliorated
the state of mankind) to the effect and influence of
religion than to all the rest of the regulations put
together.
Whenever, in my proposed reformation, we take
our point of departure from a state of slavery, we
must precede the donation of freedom by disposing
the minds of the objects to a disposition to receive
it without danger to themselves or to us. The process of bringing free savages to order and civilization is very different. When a state of slavery is
that upon which we are to work, the very means
which lead to liberty must partake of compulsion.
The minds of men, being crippled with that restraint, can do nothing for themselves: everything
must be done for them. The regulations can owe
little to consent. Everything must be the creature
of power. Hence it is that regulations must be
multiplied, particularly as you have two parties to
deal with. The planter you must at once restrain
and support, and you must control at the same
time that you ease the servant. This necessarily
makes the work a matter of care, labor, and expense. It becomes in its nature complex. But I
think neither the object impracticable nor the expense intolerable; and I am fully convinced that
? ? ? ? LETTER TO THE RIGHT HON. HENRY DUNDAS. 261
the cause of humanity would be far more benefited
by the continuance of the trade and servitude, regulated and reformed, than by the total destruction of both or either. What I propose, however, is but
a beginning of a course of measures which an experience of the effects of the evil and the reform will enable the legislature hereafter to supply and correct.
I need not observe to you, that the forms are often neglected, penalties not provided, &c. , &c. , &c. But all this is merely mechanical, and what a couple
of days' application would set to rights.
I have seen what has been done by the West Indian Assemblies. It is arrant trifling. They have
done little; and what they have done is good for
nothing, -- for it is totally destitute of an executory
principle. This is the point to which I have applied
my whole diligence. It is easy enough to say what
shall be done: to cause it to be done, --hic labor,
hoc opus.
I ought not to apologize for letting this scheme
lie beyond the period of the Horatian keeping, --I
ought mIuch more to entreat an excuse for producing it now. Its whole value (if it has any) is the coherence and mutual dependency of parts in the
scheme; separately they can be of little or no use.
I have the honor to be, with very great respect
and regard,
Dear Sir,
Your most faithful and obedient humble servant,
EDMUND BURKE.
BEACONSFIELD, Easter-Monday night, 1792.
? ? ? ? SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE.
THIS constitution consists of four principal members.
1. The rules for qualifying a ship for the Africali
trade.
II. The mode of carrying on the trade upon the
coast of Africa, which includes a plan for introducing
civilization in that part of the world.
III. What is to be observed from the time of shipping negroes to the sale in the West India islands.
IV. Tile regulations relative to the state and condition of slaves in the West Indies, their manumission, &c. Preamble. WHEREAS it is expedient, and comformable
to the principles of true religion and morality, and
to the rules of sound policy, to put an end to all
traffic in the persons of men, and to the detention of
their said persons in a state of slavery, as soon as the
same may be effected without producing great inconveniences in the sudden change of practices of such long standing, and during the time of the continuance of the said practices it is desirable and expedient by proper regulations to lessen the inconveniences
and evils attendant on the said traffic and state of
servitude, until both shall be gradually done away:
And whereas the objects of the said trade and
consequential servitude, and the grievances resulting
? ? ? ? SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE. 263
therefrom, come under the principal heads following,
the regulations ought thereto to be severally applied:
that is to say, that provision should be made by the
said regulations,
1st, For duly qualifying ships for the said traffic;
2nd, For the mode and conditions of permitting
the said trade to be carried on upon the coast of
Africa;
3rd, For the treatment of the negroes in their passage to the West India islands;
4th, For the government of the negroes which are
or shall be employed in his Majesty's colonies and
plantations in the West Indies:
Be it therefore enacted, that every ship Shipstobe
or trading vessel which is intended for the registered.
negro trade, with the name of the owner or owners
thereof, shall be entered and registered as ships trading to the West Indies are by law to be registered, with the further provisions following:
1. The same entry and register shall con- Measured
and surtain an account of the greatest number of veyed.
negroes of all descriptions which are proposed to be
taken into the said ship or trading vessel; and the
said ship, before she is permitted to be entered outwards, shall be surveyed by a ship-carpenter, to be appointed by the collector of the port from which the
said vessel is to depart, and by a surgeon, also appointed by the collector, who hath been conversant in the service of the said trade, but not at the time actually engaged or covenanted therein; and the said carpenter and surgeon shall report to the collector,
or in his absence, to the next principal officer of the
port, upon oath, (which oath the said collector or
principal officer is hereby empowered to administer,):
? ? ? ? 264 SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE.
her measurement, and what she contains in builder's
tonnage, and that she has - feet of grated portholes between the decks, and that she is otherwise fitly found as a good transport vessel.
Numberof 2. And be it enacted, that no ship emslaves
limited. ployed in the said trade shall upon any pretence take in more negroes than one grown man or woman for one ton and half of builder's tonnage, nor
more than one boy or girl for one ton.
Provisions. 3. That the said ship or other vessel shall
lay in, in proportion to the ship's company of the said
vessel, and the number of negroes registered, a full
and sufficient store of sound provision, so as to be
secure against all probable delays and accidents,
namely, salted beef, pork, salt-fish, butter, cheese,
biscuit, flour, rice, oat-meal, and white peas, but no
horse-beans, or other inferior provisions; and the said
ship shall be properly provided with water-casks or
jars, in proportion to the intended number of the said
negroes; and the said ship shall be also provided
with a proper and sufficient stock of coals or firewood.
Stores. 4. And every ship entered as aforesaid
shall take out a coarse shirt and a pair of trousers,
or petticoat, for each negro intended to be taken
aboard; as also a mat, or coarse mattress, or hammock, for the use of the said negroes.
The proportions of provision, fuel, and clothing to
be regulated by the table annexed to this act.
Certificate 5. And be it enacted, that no ship shall
thereof.
be permitted to proceed on the said voyage
or adventure, until the searcher of the port friom
whence the said vessel shall sail, or such person as
he shall appoint to act for him, shall report to the
? ? ? ? SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE. 265
collector that he hath inspected the said stores, and
that the ship is accommodated and provided in the
manner hereby directed.
6. And be it enacted, that no guns be Gunsfor
trade to be
exported to the coast of Africa, in the said inspected.
or any other trade, unless the same be duly marked
with the maker's name on the barrels before they
are put into the stocks, and vouched by an inspector
in the place where the same are made to be without fraud, and sufficient and merchantable arms.
7. And be it enacted, that, before any Ownersand
masters to
ship as aforesaid shall proceed on her voy- enter into
bonds.
age, the owner or owners, or an attorney
by them named, if the owners are more than two,
and the master, shall severally give bond, the owners by themselves, the master for himself, that the said master shall duly conform himself in all things
to the regulations in this act contained, so far as the
same regards his part in executing and conforming
to the same.
II. And whereas, in providing for the second object of this act, that is to say, for the trade on the
coast of Africa, it is first prudent not only to provide against the manifold abuses to which a trade
of that nature is liable, but that the same may be
accompanied, as far as it is possible, with such advantages to the natives as may tend to the civilizing them, and enabling them to enrich themselves by
means more desirable, and to carry on hereafter a
trade more advantageous and honorable to all parties:
And whereas religion, order, morality, and virtue
are the elemental principles, and the knowledge of
? ? ? ? 266 SKETCH OF A NEGRO CODE,
letters, arts, and handicraft trades, the chief means
of such civilization and improvement: for the better attainment of the said good purposes,
Marts to be 1. Be it hereby enacted, that the coast
established
on thecoast.
