John Wesley wondered how those involved in the slave trade
would feel if the tables were ever turned on them.
ByJohn Wesley1703-1791
1774
In the Time of
King George III1760-1820
Back to text
Make the Case Your Own
John Raphael Smith (1752–1812) after George Morland (1763–1804), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain. Source
X
‘The Slave Trade’, a print by John Raphael Smith (1752–1812) after an original in The Slave Trade (1791) by George Morland (1763–1804). To this day, the economies of several countries across Africa, Asia and the Far East thrive on forced labour and human trafficking; but the financial and environmental policies of Western Governments, and the profits of multi-national corporations, are so reliant on these economies that politicians, religious leaders and corporations rationalise the abuse, and hide it from scrutiny — just as in Georgian England.
Back to text
Enlarge & read more...
John Raphael Smith (1752–1812) after George Morland (1763–1804), via Wikimedia Commons. Licence: Public domain.
‘The Slave Trade’, a print by John Raphael Smith (1752–1812) after an original in The Slave Trade (1791) by George Morland (1763–1804). To this day, the economies of several countries across Africa, Asia and the Far East thrive on forced labour and human trafficking; but the financial and environmental policies of Western Governments, and the profits of multi-national corporations, are so reliant on these economies that politicians, religious leaders and corporations rationalise the abuse, and hide it from scrutiny — just as in Georgian England.
In 1774, Church of England clergyman John Wesley published Thoughts on Slavery, in which he joined the chorus (or choir, since it was overwhelmingly a Christian fellowship) of those demanding an end to the trade in slaves between Africa and Great Britain’s American colonies. His song was a simple one: Do as you would be done by; and he recalled an occasion when it had touched one heart in Liverpool.
MAKE the case your own. “Master,” said a slave at Liverpool, to the merchant that owned him. “What if some of my countrymen were to come here and take away Mistress, and Tommy, and Billy, and carry them into our country, and make them slaves, how would you like it?”* His answer was worthy of a man — “I will never buy a slave more while I live.”
Let his resolution be yours. Have no more any part in this detestable business. Instantly leave it to those unfeeling wretches, “who laugh at human nature and compassion.”* Be you a man; not a wolf, a devourer of the human species! Be merciful, that you may obtain mercy.*
* This happened more often than one might suppose. The Ottoman Empire had long maintained an infamous trading centre in Algiers, whose pirates snatched Europeans and even preyed on English men and women on their own shores: see Pirates at Penzance. Samuel Pepys had heard shocking tales of Ottoman slavery from ex-slave John Dawes (February 8th, 1661), but Wesley thought that African-American slavery was much worse, and the publication of The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudiah Equiano in 1789 tended to bear him out. In 1816, the Royal Navy was emboldened by the recent abolition of the slave trade across our own Empire to take a firm hand, and emancipated thousands of European slaves held there: see The Bombardment of Algiers.
* A reference to The Fair Penitent (1702), an adaptation by Nicholas Rowe (1674-1718) of The Fatal Dowry (1632) by Philip Massinger and Nathan Field. The line is given to Horatio:
Sour, unrelenting, money-loving villains,
Who laugh at human nature and forgiveness,
And are like fiends, the factors of destruction.
Wesley liked this quotation. Among other places, he used it (with the same alteration) in a letter to Anthony Benezet (1713-1784), a Quaker schoolmaster in Philadelphia who played an important role in stirring Wesley to take an active part in the anti-slavery movement.
* See Matthew 5:7. Wesley’s wider argument is based on Matthew 7:12: Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Questions for Critics
1. What is the author
aiming to achieve in writing this?
2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that
strike you. How do they help the author communicate his
ideas more effectively?
3. What impression does this passage make on you?
How might you put that impression into words?
Based on The English Critic (1939)
by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at
Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn,
Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University,
USA.
Précis
In 1774, John Wesley recalled how a slave in Liverpool had asked his master how he would like it, if he and his family were uprooted and carried off to Africa as slaves. To his credit, the slave’s master immediately exclaimed that he would never buy another slave, and Wesley urged everyone involved in the slave industry to do likewise.(60 / 60 words)
In 1774, John Wesley recalled how a slave in Liverpool had asked his master how he would like it, if he and his family were uprooted and carried off to Africa as slaves. To his credit, the slave’s master immediately exclaimed that he would never buy another slave, and Wesley urged everyone involved in the slave industry to do likewise.
Edit | Reset
Variations:
1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 65 words.2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 55 words.3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: just, may, must, not, unless, until, whether, who.
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1I.Like.Live.
2Answer.Mistress.Own.
3Part.Species.Unfeeling.
Variations:1.include direct and indirect speech2.include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who3.use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
Use each word below in a sentence. Try to include at least one statement, one question and one command among your sentences. Note that some verbs make awkward or meaningless words of command, e.g. need, happen.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Variations:1.use a minimum of seven words for each sentence2.include negatives, e.g. isn’t, don’t, never3.use the words ‘must’ to make commands4.compose a short dialogue containing all three kinds of sentence: one statement, one question and one command
In each group below, you will find words that sound the same, but differ in spelling and also in meaning. Compose your own sentences to bring out the differences between them.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
If you like what I’m doing here on Clay Lane,
from time to time you could
buy me a coffee.
Buy Me a
Coffee is a crowdfunding website, used by over a million people. It is designed
to help content creators like me make a living from their work. ‘Buy Me a
Coffee’ prides itself on its security, and
there is no need to register.
Related Posts
Away with Compulsion!
ByJohn Wesley
John Wesley called for a world in which no one was forced to go
against his conscience or to serve against his will.
