"Mr. Hume argues nearly in

ON SLAVERY.

Tothe Editorofthe Chrtstian Observer.

I SEND you the following arguments of Dr. Beattie, contrasted with the statements of Aristotle and Hume, on Slaves and Slavery. Let the reader choose between the heathen and the infidel on the one hand, and the learned, accomplished, humane, and devout Christian on the other.

"That I may not be thought a blind admirer of antiquity," says Dr. Beattie, "I would crave the reader's indulgence for one short digression more, in order to put him in mind of an important error in morals, inferred from partial and inaccurate experience, by no less a person than Aristotle himself. He argues, 'That men of little genius, and great bodily strength, are by nature destined to serve, and those of better capacity to command; and that the natives of Greece, and of some other countries, being naturally superior in genius, have a natural right to empire, and that the rest of mankind, being naturally stupid, are destined to labour and slavery.' This reasoning is now, alas! of little advantage to Aristotle's countrymen, who have for many ages been doomed to that slavery which, in his judgment, nature had destined them to impose on others; and many nations whom he would have consigned to everlasting stupidity, have shewn themselves equal in genius to the most exalted of human kind. It would have been more worthy of Aristotle, to have inferred man's natural and universal right to liberty, from that natural and universal passion with which men desire it. He wanted, perhaps, to devise some excuse for servitude; a practice which, to their eternal reproach, both Greeks and Romans tolerated, even in the days of their glory.

superiority of White men over Black. ...... His assertions are strong, but I know not whether they have any thing else to recommend them....... The inhabitants of Great Britain and France were as savage two thousand years ago, as those of Africa and America are at this day. To civilize a nation, is a work which it requires long time to accomplish; and one may as well say of an infant, that he can never become a man, as of a nation now barbarous, that it never can be civilized.......That a Negro slave, who can neither read nor write, nor speak any European Language, who is not permitted to do any thing but what his master commands, and who has not a single friend on earth, but is universally considered and treated as if he were of a species inferior to the human; that such a creature should so distinguish himself among Europeans, as to be talked of through the world for a man of genius, is surely no reasonable expectation. To suppose him of an inferior species, because he does not thus distinguish himself, is just as rational as to suppose any private European of an inferior species, because he has not raised himself to the condition of royalty."

"That every practice and sentiment is barbarous which is not according to the usages of modern Europe, seems to be a fundamental maxim with many of our critics and philosophers. Their remarks often put me in mind of the fable of the man and the lion. If Negroes and Indians were disposed to recriminate; if a Lucian or a Voltaire from the coast of Guinea, or from the Five Nations, were to pay us a visit, what a picture of European manners might he present to his countrymen at his return! Nor would caricatura, or exaggeration, be necessary to render it hideous. A plain historical account of some of our most fashionable duellists,

bring home such as were still alive. A voyage seeming to offer the only hope for my recovery, I was conveyed on board, apparently in a dying state, and set sail the same day for Queda.”

Having partially recovered, the good missionary returned to Nancauwery, where he found that Sixtus had died. Several other missionaries were afterwards sent out, almost all of whom died also; and as to any success in making the natives acquainted with the Gospel,

all their exertions seemed in vain.

In consequence of the loss of so many valuable lives, and the failure of the object of the mission, it was resolved to relinquish it. “Words," says Haensal, cannot express the painful sensations which crowded into my mind, while I was making a conclusion of the labours of the brethren in the Nicobar Islands. I remembered the numberless prayers, tears, and sighs offered up by so many servants of Jesus, and by our congregations in Europe, for the conversion of the poor heathen here: and when I beheld our buryingground, where eleven of my brethren had their resting place, as seed sown in a barren land, I burst into tears, and exclaimed, Surely all this cannot have been done in vain! Often did I visit this place, and sat down and wept at their graves. My last farewell with the inhabitants, who had flocked to me from all the circumjacent islands, was very affecting. They wept and howled for grief, and begged that the brethren might soon return to them. We always enjoyed their esteem and love, and they do not deserve to be classed with their ferocious neighbours, the Malays; being, in general, kind and gentle in their dispositions, except when roused by jealousy, or other provocations; when their uncontrolled passions will lead them into excesses, as some of the Danish soldiers experienced. We always found them ready to serve us."

The good missionary proceeds to give an account of the appearance of the country in the Nicobar Islands, and the customs of the inhabitants. We abridge a part of his description.

"Most of these islands are hilly: but Tricut, Tafouin, and Kar Nicobar, are flat, and covered with forests of cocoa trees. All the valleys and sides of the hills, to a considerable height, are thickly covered with them, insomuch that the light of the sun has not been able for ages to penetrate throught their foliage. They are in many places so closely interwoven with immense quantities of rattan and bush-rope, that they appear as it were spun together; and it is almost perfectly dark in the woods. Most of the plants and trees bear fruit, which falls down and rots. These circumstances contribute to render the climate very unhealthy, the free current of air being wholly impeded: even the natives experi ence their baneful effects, but, to a European constitution, they are of the most dangerous nature.

"I am no botanist, and can therefore give but little information concerning the different species of trees, shrubs, and plants, which seem to thrive here in such luxurious abundance. That most useful of all trees, the Cocoa, is of very easy growth, and thrives best on the sea coast, where its roots and stem are reached by the flood-tide. The nut, falling into the sand, is soon covered by it, and springs up in great strength. I have planted many, and enjoyed the fruit after five years.

When the nuts are ripe, you hang them about the house: in a short time they shoot out sprigs and branches, and when these are about a yard long, you may put them into the ground, where they continue to vegetate rapidly. Another most beautiful and valuable tree is the Mango; the fruit of which is extremely useful, both for eating and medicinal purposes. The eatable part is inclosed in a shell, which lies in a

thick, pulpy rind its taste is spicy, very grateful, betwixt sour and sweet, and so wholesome, that there is hardly any fear of eating too plentifully of it. The shell is bitter and astringent, and the Nicobar doctors, or sorcerers, administer a decoction of it against fevers and agues, to which they, as well as strangers, are much subject. There is also a vast variety of roots, fruits, and herbs, with the medicinal virtues of which the sorcerers are well acquainted.

"As to the beasts and reptiles existing in these islands, I shall only mention what has come under my own observation. There are no wild beasts here, such as tygers and leopards. Monkeys are found in the southernmost islands. In some others are large herds of buffaloes and other cattle, originally brought thither by the Danes, but which have run wild in the woods, since the abandonment of the colony. They have increased prodigi. ously; and as the upper regions of the mountains are covered with vast quantities of fine grass, they find food in abundance, and grow to a large size. These are always seen in herds; and I never ventured to shoot any, though I longed to procure some of their flesh for our use. Dogs and swine are found in all

the islands.

"Serpents are numerous in some places, but far less so than on the coast of Coromandel. The chief 'cause of this difference I am apt to ascribe to a custom, prevalent among the natives, of setting the long grass on the mountains on fire, two or three times a-year. As these reptiles like to lay their eggs in the grass great quantities of them are thus destroyed. One kind of serpent struck me here as a singular species: it is of a green colour, has a broad head and mouth, like a frog, very red eyes; and its bite is so venemous, that I saw a woman die within half an hour after receiving the wound. She had climbed a high tree in search of fruit, and,

not observing the animal among the branches, was suddenly bitten in the arm. Being well aware of the danger, she immediately descended, but, on reaching the ground, reeled to and fro like a person in a state of intoxication. The people brought her immediately to me; and while I was applying blisters, and other means for extracting the poison, she died under my hands."

"I saw but few scorpions; but among them an unusually large species, of a red colour, said to be extremely venomous. One of the most formidable animals with which these islands abound, is the crocodile or alligator. They are of two kinds; the black kayman, and the proper crocodile. The latter is said never to attack live creatures, but to devour only carrion, and is therefore not considered dangerous. Of the correctness of this opinion I had once ocular proof. I was walking at Queda, along the coast, and looking at a number of children swimming and sporting in the water. On a sudden I observed a large crocodile proceed towards them from a creek. Terrified at the idea of the danger they were exposed to, I screamed out, and made signs to some Chinese to go to their assistance; but they laughed at me, as an ignorant stranger. I afterwards saw the monster playing about among them, while the children diverted themselves by pretending to attack him and drive him away. The kayman is less in size, and very fierce, seizing upon every creature that has life; but he cannot lift any thing from the ground, as his lower jaw projects.

"The bats of Nicobar are of a gigantic size: I have seen some whose outstretched wings measured from five to six feet across the back, the body being the size of a common cat. They appear hideous, and in their solitary flight resemble a cloak in motion, chiefly and awkwardly perching upon the mango tree, the fruit of which they eat, breaking down the smaller branches,

till they light upon such as are able to bear their weight.

:

"Of birds, I shall only notice one, called by some the Nicobar Swallow it is the builder of those eatable nests, which constitute one of the luxuries of an Indian banquet. These birds build in fissures and cavities of rocks, especially in such as open to the south. In the latter, the finest and whitest nests are found, and I have sometimes gathered fifty pounds weight of them on one excursion. If they are perfect, seventy-two of them go to a catty; that is, somewhat less than two pounds. The best sale for them is in China. After the most diligent investigation, I was never able fully to discover of what substance they are made. My opinion is, that they are made of the gum of a peculiar tree,called by some the Nicobar Cedar, and growing in great abundance in all the southern islands. About these trees, when in bloom or bearing fruit, I have seen innumerable flocks of these little birds, flying and fluttering like bees round a tree or shrub in full flower, and am of opinion, that they there gather the materials for their nests. The hen constructs a neat, large, well-shaped nest, calculated for laying and hatching her eggs; and the cock contrives to fix another, smaller and rather more clumsy, close to his mate: for they are not only built for the purpose of laying eggs, but for resting-places, whence they may take wing. If they are robbed of them, they immediately fall to work to build others, and,being remarkably active, are able to finish enough in a day to support the weight of their bodies, though they require about three weeks to complete a nest.

"I did not perceive any great variety of birds in these islands; but wild pigeons and parrots are nu

merous.

"As to fishes, the sea abounds with various descriptions; but my attention was principally directed to shell-fish, which are found in great abundance and beauty on

most of the islands; the mission being in part supported by the sale of collections of these and other natural curiosities, made by myself and other brethren, whose time and disposition allowed of it,-there having been at that time a great demand for productions of this kind in England, Holland, Denmark, and other parts of Europe.

"On my frequent excursions along the sea coast, it sometimes happened that I was benighted, and could not, with convenience, return to our dwelling; but I was never at a loss for a bed. The greater part of the beach consists of a remarkably fine white sand, which, above highwater. mark, is perfectly clean and dry. Into this I dug with ease a hole large enough to contain my body, forming a mound as a pillow for my head: I then lay down, and by collecting the sand over me, buried myself in it up to the neck. My faithful dog always lay across my body, ready to give the alarm, in case of disturbance from any quarter. However, I was under no apprehension from wild animals. The only annoyance I suffered was from the nocturnal perambulations of an immense variety of crabs of all sizes, the grating noise of whose armour would sometimes keep me awake. But they were well watched by my dog; and if any one ventured to approach, he was sure to be suddenly seized, and thrown to a more respectful distance; or if a crab of more tremendous appearance deterred the dog. from exposing his nose to its claws, he would bark and frighten it away, by which, however, I was often more seriously alarmed than the occasion required. Many a comfortable night's rest have I had in these sepulchral dormitories, when the nights were clear and dry. I feel truly thankful to God, that He preserved me, on my many journeys, from all harm; nor can I speak of having ever been in much danger.

"I regret that I cannot gratify you with a sight of the lists I kept, of the different kinds of serpents,crabs,