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A DEFENCE OF NEGRO SLAVERY.

"This rule," says Dr. WATTS "does not mean to oblige us to give all that to another, or do all that for another, which we could possibly desire, or wish to be bestowed upon us, or done for us; but whatsoever we could reasonably desire, and justly expect, another should do to us, that we ought to do to him, when he is in like circumstances. All that in our calm and sedate thoughts we judge fit and proper another should do for us, that we should do and practice for him. Such requests as we could make to others, and could justify them to ourselves in our own consciences, according to the principles of humanity, the rules of civil society, and the rights of mankind-such we ought not to deny to others when they stand in need. Not all that a fond self-love could prompt us to ask, but all that our conscience tells us we might with reason expect."

The view that I have taken of the Scriptures on this subject, renders unnecessary any extended notice of the several objections which have been urged. The sinfulness, or not, of Slavery as it exists among us, depends on facts and circumstances to be hereafter mentioned.

CHAPTER III.

THE AFRICAN RACE: THEIR INFERIORITY, AND

FITNESS FOR THE CONDITION OF SLAVERY.

BEFORE Commencing the subject of African Slavery, it will be proper to say something in reference to the qualities of the African, that fit him for the condition of Slavery. I maintain that the African is naturally inferior to the Caucassian, and that he is endowed by nature with certain qualities which fit him for the condition of Slavery, as it exists in the Southern parts of the United States.

Naturalists, following the classification of BLUMENBACH, have usually divided the human family into five different varieties: 1. The Caucasian; 2. The Malay; 3. The Mongolian; 4. The American; and 5. The African. This division may be reduced to three as I shall hereafter show. springing from the three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The three varieties are:1st. The White, or Caucasian-springing from Japheth. 2d. The copper-colored races-embracing the Malay, Mongolian, and the American In

dian: these sprang from Shem. 3d. The Negro races, which sprang from Ham.

The destiny of these three varieties of men has been very different. The white man, in all ages, has enjoyed a considerable degree of civilization. He has been the discoverer, the propagator, and: the patron, of the Arts and Sciences: And the copper-colored races, at different periods, have enjoyed a very considerable degree of civilization; but they have never, in any age, rivalled the white race of men. The Negro race, on the contrary, has never, in any age, attained to any high degree of civilization. It has never advanced much beyond the state of barbarism; and seems, except when in a state of Slavery, incapable of reaching a higher point in the scale of improvement. I must, however, present the facts on this subject in a form somewhat more systematic:

I. PRESENT CONDITION OF THE AFRICAN.— The present condition of the African, is, everywhere, one of inferiority. In his native country, he has been free, for thousands of years past; yet he nowhere exhibits, in any part of the Afri. can continent, the slightest evidence of advancement in the arts of civilized life.

Agriculture, among the native Africans, scarcely deserves to be mentioned. A few inferior qual

ities of grain are raised in the immediate vicinity of the villages; but little or no labour is required, or performed, in their culture, as the earth, in most parts of that country, brings forth almost spontaneously. In most parts of Africa, the forest stands in all its primitive grandeur; and such, in all likelihood, will continue to be the case, unless the present inhabitants should be displaced, and the country settled by a different and higher order of

men.

Manufactures have advanced but little beyond agriculture, on any part of the African continent, among the negro races. As the Africans are satisfied with the simplest accommodations, this, of course, might have been anticipated. A few articles, however, are manufactured by them with some considerable degree of skill. A certain kind of blue, cotton cloth, manufactured by them, is a very beautiful article. They likewise manufacture leather, so as to make it equal to the best Morocco. Mats used for sitting, and gold and silver ornaments, are all made in Africa, with considerable skill. But these are almost the only articles manufactured in the whole country.

Navigation and Commerce, are almost entirely unknown among the Africans. Some little trade is carried on, on the backs of asses, and on the

heads of Slaves and women; but wagons, carts, or other vehicles, are entirely unknown among them—and, indeed, would be entirely useless if ́ they were known-as the best roads in Africa are but little more than paths cut through the dense forests.

All the accommodations of life are limited in' an extreme degree in that country. In the whole of that vast country, the native has never built a stone house, or a house of any kind that rises two stories above the ground. They have no statuary, no paintings, nor any work of any kind, show. ing the slightest advance in the arts.

The intellectual condition of Africa is dark in the extreme. They have no written language, no hieroglyphics, no symbols, or characters of any kind, by which one generation can impart to another the treasures of experience. They fre. quently compose extempore verses, and in their palavers they occasionally display some powers of native eloquence; but these efforts are greatly inferior to the efforts of the most uneducated members of the Caucasian family.

Africa, in a Religious point of view, is in a state of extreme darkness. Their views of spir itual beings in general, are low and degrading :: nor have they a single rational idea in reference