Didn’t realize this was as old as it was. Boswell lived during Johnson’s time and they were friends. As such, he doesn’t really describe the meaning of the phrase at all.
https://archive.org/details/lifesamueljohns00baldgoog/page/n182
On page 174 he does talk about the phrase, but he makes the point that Johnson was opposed to slavery everywhere, so Boswell takes the phrase to be just as harsh against English slave plantations as any other.
Again, not looking good for The New York Times.
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