A great many black slaves, with their families, used to take advantage of our visits to come away with us. Some of their first exclamations were, “Me free man; me go cut massa’s throat; give me musket,” which many of them did not know how to use when they had it. Another favourite expression, when we wanted them to work, was, “No, me no work--me free man.” It was, therefore, necessary to explain to these new freemen--which explanation, I fear, will frequently have to be repeated in our West India colonies, with other arguments--that we must all work and gain our livelihood by the “sweat of our brow,” whether bond or free; but they considered work and slavery synonymous terms.[M] Republicans are certainly the most cruel masters, and the greatest tyrants in the world towards their fellow men. They are urged by the most selfish motives to reduce every one to a level with, or even below themselves, and to grind and degrade those under them to the lowest stage of human wretchedness. But American liberty consists in oppressing the blacks beyond what other nations do, enacting laws to prevent their receiving instruction, and working them worse than donkeys. “But you call this a free country, when I can’t shoot my nigger when I like--eh?” While on the coast of America we embarked from fifteen hundred to two thousand slaves--the young men we formed into a black corps, and, taking possession of the small islands of Tangiers, we drilled and endeavoured to make our recruits of some use. The aged men, with the women and children, were sent to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and from thence a free colony was formed at the island of Trinadada, in the West Indies.