I believe it is difficult for those who publish their own memoirs to

　　escape the imputation of vanity; nor is this the only disadvantage

　　under which they labour: it is also their misfortune, that what is

　　uncommon is rarely, if ever, believed, and what is obvious we are apt

　　to turn from with disgust, and to charge the writer with impertinence.

　　People generally think those memoirs only worthy to be read or

　　remembered which abound in great or striking events, those, in short,

　　which in a high degree excite either admiration or pity: all others

　　they consign to contempt and oblivion. It is therefore, I confess, not

　　a little hazardous in a private and obscure individual, and a stranger

　　too, thus to solicit the indulgent attention of the public; especially

　　when I own I offer here the history of neither a saint, a hero, nor a

　　tyrant. I believe there are few events in my life, which have not

　　happened to many: it is true the incidents of it are numerous; and,

　　did I consider myself an European, I might say my sufferings were

　　great: but when I compare my lot with that of most of my countrymen, I

　　regard myself as a _particular favourite of Heaven_, and acknowledge

　　the mercies of Providence in every occurrence of my life. If then the

　　following narrative does not appear sufficiently interesting to engage

　　general attention, let my motive be some excuse for its publication. I

　　am not so foolishly vain as to expect from it either immortality or

　　literary reputation. If it affords any satisfaction to my numerous

　　friends, at whose request it has been written, or in the smallest

　　degree promotes the interests of humanity, the ends for which it was

　　undertaken will be fully attained, and every wish of my heart

　　gratified. Let it therefore be remembered, that, in wishing to avoid

　　censure, I do not aspire to praise.

　　That part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade

　　for slaves is carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles,

　　from the Senegal to Angola, and includes a variety of kingdoms. Of

　　these the most considerable is the kingdom of Benen, both as to extent

　　and wealth, the richness and cultivation of the soil, the power of its

　　king, and the number and warlike disposition of the inhabitants. It is

　　situated nearly under the line, and extends along the coast about 170

　　miles, but runs back into the interior part of Africa to a distance

　　hitherto I believe unexplored by any traveller; and seems only

　　terminated at length by the empire of Abyssinia, near 1500 miles from

　　its beginning. This kingdom is divided into many provinces or

　　districts: in one of the most remote and fertile of which, called

　　Eboe, I was born, in the year 1745, in a charming fruitful vale, named

　　Essaka. The distance of this province from the capital of Benin and

　　the sea coast must be very considerable; for I had never heard of

　　white men or Europeans, nor of the sea: and our subjection to the king

　　of Benin was little more than nominal; for every transaction of the

　　government, as far as my slender observation extended, was conducted

　　by the chiefs or elders of the place. The manners and government of a

　　people who have little commerce with other countries are generally

　　very simple; and the history of what passes in one family or village

　　may serve as a specimen of a nation. My father was one of those elders

　　or chiefs I have spoken of, and was styled Embrenche; a term, as I

　　remember, importing the highest distinction, and signifying in our

　　language a _mark_ of grandeur. This mark is conferred on the person

　　entitled to it, by cutting the skin across at the top of the forehead,

　　and drawing it down to the eye-brows; and while it is in this

　　situation applying a warm hand, and rubbing it until it shrinks up

　　into a thick _weal_ across the lower part of the forehead. Most of the

　　judges and senators were thus marked; my father had long born it: I

　　had seen it conferred on one of my brothers, and I was also

　　_destined_ to receive it by my parents. Those Embrence, or chief men,

　　decided disputes and punished crimes; for which purpose they always

　　assembled together. The proceedings were generally short; and in most

　　cases the law of retaliation prevailed. I remember a man was brought

　　before my father, and the other judges, for kidnapping a boy; and,

　　although he was the son of a chief or senator, he was condemned to

　　make recompense by a man or woman slave. Adultery, however, was

　　sometimes punished with slavery or death; a punishment which I believe

　　is inflicted on it throughout most of the nations of Africa[A]: so

　　sacred among them is the honour of the marriage bed, and so jealous

　　are they of the fidelity of their wives. Of this I recollect an

　　instance:--a woman was convicted before the judges of adultery, and

　　delivered over, as the custom was, to her husband to be punished.

　　Accordingly he determined to put her to death: but it being found,

　　just before her execution, that she had an infant at her breast; and

　　no woman being prevailed on to perform the part of a nurse, she was

　　spared on account of the child. The men, however, do not preserve the

　　same constancy to their wives, which they expect from them; for they

　　indulge in a plurality, though seldom in more than two. Their mode of

　　marriage is thus:--both parties are usually betrothed when young by

　　their parents,

though I have known the males to betroth themselves

.

　　On this occasion a feast is prepared, and the bride and bridegroom

　　stand up in the midst of all their friends, who are assembled for the

　　purpose, while he declares she is thenceforth to be looked upon as his

　　wife, and that no other person is to pay any addresses to her. This is

　　also immediately proclaimed in the vicinity, on which the bride

　　retires from the assembly. Some time after she is brought home to her

　　husband, and then another feast is made, to which the relations of

　　both parties are invited: her parents then deliver her to the

　　bridegroom, accompanied with a number of blessings, and at the same

　　time they tie round her waist a cotton string of the thickness of a

　　goose-quill, which none but married women are permitted to wear: she

　　is now considered as completely his wife; and at this time the dowry

　　is given to the new married pair, which generally consists of portions

　　of land, slaves, and cattle, household goods, and implements of

　　husbandry. These are offered by the friends of both parties; besides

　　which the parents of the bridegroom present gifts to those of the

　　bride, whose property she is looked upon before marriage; but after it

　　she is esteemed the sole property of her husband. The ceremony being

　　now ended the festival begins, which is celebrated with bonefires, and

　　loud acclamations of joy, accompanied with music and dancing.

　　We are almost a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets. Thus every

　　great event, such as a triumphant return from battle, or other cause

　　of public rejoicing is celebrated in public dances, which are

　　accompanied with songs and music suited to the occasion. The assembly

　　is separated into four divisions, which dance either apart or in

　　succession, and each with a character peculiar to itself. The first

　　division contains the married men, who in their dances frequently

　　exhibit feats of arms, and the representation of a battle. To these

　　succeed the married women, who dance in the second division. The young

　　men occupy the third; and the maidens the fourth. Each represents some

　　interesting scene of real life, such as a great achievement, domestic

　　employment, a pathetic story, or some rural sport; and as the subject

　　is generally founded on some recent event, it is therefore ever new.

　　This gives our dances a spirit and variety which I have scarcely seen

　　elsewhere[B]. We have many musical instruments, particularly drums of

　　different kinds, a piece of music which resembles a guitar, and

　　another much like a stickado. These last are chiefly used by betrothed

　　virgins, who play on them on all grand festivals.

　　As our manners are simple, our luxuries are few. The dress of both

　　sexes is nearly the same. It generally consists of a long piece of

　　callico, or muslin, wrapped loosely round the body, somewhat in the

　　form of a highland plaid. This is usually dyed blue, which is our

　　favourite colour. It is extracted from a berry, and is brighter and

　　richer than any I have seen in Europe. Besides this, our women of

　　distinction wear golden ornaments; which they dispose with some

　　profusion on their arms and legs. When our women are not employed with

　　the men in tillage, their usual occupation is spinning and weaving

　　cotton, which they afterwards dye, and make it into garments. They

　　also manufacture earthen vessels, of which we have many kinds. Among

　　the rest tobacco pipes, made after the same fashion, and used in the

　　same manner, as those in Turkey[C].

　　Our manner of living is entirely plain; for as yet the natives are

　　unacquainted with those refinements in cookery which debauch the

　　taste: bullocks, goats, and poultry, supply the greatest part of their

　　food. These constitute likewise the principal wealth of the country,

　　and the chief articles of its commerce. The flesh is usually stewed in

　　a pan; to make it savoury we sometimes use also pepper, and other

　　spices, and we have salt made of wood ashes. Our vegetables are mostly

　　plantains, eadas, yams, beans, and Indian corn. The head of the family

　　usually eats alone; his wives and slaves have also their separate

　　tables. Before we taste food we always wash our hands: indeed our

　　cleanliness on all occasions is extreme; but on this it is an

　　indispensable ceremony. After washing, libation is made, by pouring

　　out a small portion of the food, in a certain place, for the spirits

　　of departed relations, which the natives suppose to preside over their

　　conduct, and guard them from evil. They are totally unacquainted with

　　strong or spirituous liquours; and their principal beverage is palm

　　wine. This is gotten from a tree of that name by tapping it at the

　　top, and fastening a large gourd to it; and sometimes one tree will

　　yield three or four gallons in a night. When just drawn it is of a

　　most delicious sweetness; but in a few days it acquires a tartish and

　　more spirituous flavour: though I never saw any one intoxicated by it.

　　The same tree also produces nuts and oil. Our principal luxury is in

　　perfumes; one sort of these is an odoriferous wood of delicious

　　fragrance: the other a kind of earth; a small portion of which thrown

　　into the fire diffuses a most powerful odour[D]. We beat this wood

　　into powder, and mix it with palm oil; with which both men and women

　　perfume themselves.

　　In our buildings we study convenience rather than ornament. Each

　　master of a family has a large square piece of ground, surrounded with

　　a moat or fence, or enclosed with a wall made of red earth tempered;

　　which, when dry, is as hard as brick. Within this are his houses to

　　accommodate his family and slaves; which, if numerous, frequently

　　present the appearance of a village. In the middle stands the

　　principal building, appropriated to the sole use of the master, and

　　consisting of two apartments; in one of which he sits in the day with

　　his family, the other is left apart for the reception of his friends.

　　He has besides these a distinct apartment in which he sleeps, together

　　with his male children. On each side are the apartments of his wives,

　　who have also their separate day and night houses. The habitations of

　　the slaves and their families are distributed throughout the rest of

　　the enclosure. These houses never exceed one story in height: they are

　　always built of wood, or stakes driven into the ground, crossed with

　　wattles, and neatly plastered within, and without. The roof is

　　thatched with reeds. Our day-houses are left open at the sides; but

　　those in which we sleep are always covered, and plastered in the

　　inside, with a composition mixed with cow-dung, to keep off the

　　different insects, which annoy us during the night. The walls and

　　floors also of these are generally covered with mats. Our beds consist

　　of a platform, raised three or four feet from the ground, on which are

　　laid skins, and different parts of a spungy tree called plaintain. Our

　　covering is calico or muslin, the same as our dress. The usual seats

　　are a few logs of wood; but we have benches, which are generally

　　perfumed, to accommodate strangers: these compose the greater part of

　　our household furniture. Houses so constructed and furnished require

　　but little skill to erect them. Every man is a sufficient architect

　　for the purpose. The whole neighbourhood afford their unanimous

　　assistance in building them and in return receive, and expect no other

　　recompense than a feast.

　　As we live in a country where nature is prodigal of her favours, our

　　wants are few and easily supplied; of course we have few manufactures.

　　They consist for the most part of calicoes, earthern ware, ornaments,

　　and instruments of war and husbandry. But these make no part of our

　　commerce, the principal articles of which, as I have observed, are

　　provisions. In such a state money is of little use; however we have

　　some small pieces of coin, if I may call them such. They are made

　　something like an anchor; but I do not remember either their value or

　　denomination. We have also markets, at which I have been frequently

　　with my mother. These are sometimes visited by stout mahogany-coloured

　　men from the south west of us: we call them Oye-Eboe, which term

　　signifies red men living at a distance. They generally bring us

　　fire-arms, gunpowder, hats, beads, and dried fish. The last we

　　esteemed a great rarity, as our waters were only brooks and springs.

　　These articles they barter with us for odoriferous woods and earth,

　　and our salt of wood ashes. They always carry slaves through our land;

　　but the strictest account is exacted of their manner of procuring them

　　before they are suffered to pass. Sometimes indeed we sold slaves to

　　them, but they were only prisoners of war, or such among us as had

　　been convicted of kidnapping, or adultery, and some other crimes,

　　which we esteemed heinous. This practice of kidnapping induces me to

　　think, that, notwithstanding all our strictness, their principal

　　business among us was to trepan our people. I remember too they

　　carried great sacks along with them, which not long after I had an

　　opportunity of fatally seeing applied to that infamous purpose.

　　Our land is uncommonly rich and fruitful, and produces all kinds of

　　vegetables in great abundance. We have plenty of Indian corn, and vast

　　quantities of cotton and tobacco. Our pine apples grow without

　　culture; they are about the size of the largest sugar-loaf, and finely

　　flavoured. We have also spices of different kinds, particularly

　　pepper; and a variety of delicious fruits which I have never seen in

　　Europe; together with gums of various kinds, and honey in abundance.

　　All our industry is exerted to improve those blessings of nature.

　　Agriculture is our chief employment; and every one, even the children

　　and women, are engaged in it. Thus we are all habituated to labour

　　from our earliest years. Every one contributes something to the common

　　stock; and as we are unacquainted with idleness, we have no beggars.

　　The benefits of such a mode of living are obvious. The West India

　　planters prefer the slaves of Benin or Eboe to those of any other part

　　of Guinea, for their hardiness, intelligence, integrity, and zeal.

　　Those benefits are felt by us in the general healthiness of the

　　people, and in their vigour and activity; I might have added too in

　　their comeliness. Deformity is indeed unknown amongst us, I mean that

　　of shape. Numbers of the natives of Eboe now in London might be

　　brought in support of this assertion: for, in regard to complexion,

　　ideas of beauty are wholly relative. I remember while in Africa to

　　have seen three negro children, who were tawny, and another quite

　　white, who were universally regarded by myself, and the natives in

　　general, as far as related to their complexions, as deformed. Our

　　women too were in my eyes at least uncommonly graceful, alert, and

　　modest to a degree of bashfulness; nor do I remember to have ever

　　heard of an instance of incontinence amongst them before marriage.

　　They are also remarkably cheerful. Indeed cheerfulness and affability

　　are two of the leading characteristics of our nation.

　　Our tillage is exercised in a large plain or common, some hours walk

　　from our dwellings, and all the neighbours resort thither in a body.

　　They use no beasts of husbandry; and their only instruments are hoes,

　　axes, shovels, and beaks, or pointed iron to dig with. Sometimes we

　　are visited by locusts, which come in large clouds, so as to darken

　　the air, and destroy our harvest. This however happens rarely, but

　　when it does, a famine is produced by it. I remember an instance or

　　two wherein this happened. This common is often the theatre of war;

　　and therefore when our people go out to till their land, they not only

　　go in a body, but generally take their arms with them for fear of a

　　surprise; and when they apprehend an invasion they guard the avenues

　　to their dwellings, by driving sticks into the ground, which are so

　　sharp at one end as to pierce the foot, and are generally dipt in

　　poison. From what I can recollect of these battles, they appear to

　　have been irruptions of one little state or district on the other, to

　　obtain prisoners or booty. Perhaps they were incited to this by those

　　traders who brought the European goods I mentioned amongst us. Such a

　　mode of obtaining slaves in Africa is common; and I believe more are

　　procured this way, and by kidnapping, than any other[E]. When a trader

　　wants slaves, he applies to a chief for them, and tempts him with his

　　wares. It is not extraordinary, if on this occasion he yields to the

　　temptation with as little firmness, and accepts the price of his

　　fellow creatures liberty with as little reluctance as the enlightened

　　merchant. Accordingly he falls on his neighbours, and a desperate

　　battle ensues. If he prevails and takes prisoners, he gratifies his

　　avarice by selling them; but, if his party be vanquished, and he falls

　　into the hands of the enemy, he is put to death: for, as he has been

　　known to foment their quarrels, it is thought dangerous to let him

　　survive, and no ransom can save him, though all other prisoners may be

　　redeemed. We have fire-arms, bows and arrows, broad two-edged swords

　　and javelins: we have shields also which cover a man from head to

　　foot. All are taught the use of these weapons; even our women are

　　warriors, and march boldly out to fight along with the men. Our whole

　　district is a kind of militia: on a certain signal given, such as the

　　firing of a gun at night, they all rise in arms and rush upon their

　　enemy. It is perhaps something remarkable, that when our people march

　　to the field a red flag or banner is borne before them. I was once a

　　witness to a battle in our common. We had been all at work in it one

　　day as usual, when our people were suddenly attacked. I climbed a tree

　　at some distance, from which I beheld the fight. There were many women

　　as well as men on both sides; among others my mother was there, and

　　armed with a broad sword. After fighting for a considerable time with

　　great fury, and after many had been killed our people obtained the

　　victory, and took their enemy's Chief prisoner. He was carried off in

　　great triumph, and, though he offered a large ransom for his life, he

　　was put to death. A virgin of note among our enemies had been slain in

　　the battle, and her arm was exposed in our market-place, where our

　　trophies were always exhibited. The spoils were divided according to

　　the merit of the warriors. Those prisoners which were not sold or

　　redeemed we kept as slaves: but how different was their condition from

　　that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us they do no more work

　　than other members of the community, even their masters; their food,

　　clothing and lodging were nearly the same as theirs,

except that they

　　were not permitted to eat with those who were free-born

; and there

　　was scarce any other difference between them, than a superior degree

　　of importance which the head of a family possesses in our state, and

　　that authority which, as such, he exercises over every part of his

　　household. Some of these slaves have even slaves under them as their

　　own property, and for their own use.

　　As to religion, the natives believe that there is one Creator of all

　　things, and that he lives in the sun, and is girted round with a belt

　　that he may never eat or drink; but, according to some, he smokes a

　　pipe, which is our own favourite luxury. They believe he governs

　　events, especially our deaths or captivity; but, as for the doctrine

　　of eternity, I do not remember to have ever heard of it: some however

　　believe in the transmigration of souls in a certain degree. Those

　　spirits, which are not transmigrated, such as our dear friends or

　　relations, they believe always attend them, and guard them from the

　　bad spirits or their foes. For this reason they always before eating,

　　as I have observed, put some small portion of the meat, and pour some

　　of their drink, on the ground for them; and they often make oblations

　　of the blood of beasts or fowls at their graves. I was very fond of my

　　mother, and almost constantly with her. When she went to make these

　　oblations at her mother's tomb, which was a kind of small solitary

　　thatched house, I sometimes attended her. There she made her

　　libations, and spent most of the night in cries and lamentations. I

　　have been often extremely terrified on these occasions. The loneliness

　　of the place, the darkness of the night, and the ceremony of libation,

　　naturally awful and gloomy, were heightened by my mother's

　　lamentations; and these, concuring with the cries of doleful birds, by

　　which these places were frequented, gave an inexpressible terror to

　　the scene.

　　We compute the year from the day on which the sun crosses the line,

　　and on its setting that evening there is a general shout throughout

　　the land; at least I can speak from my own knowledge throughout our

　　vicinity. The people at the same time make a great noise with rattles,

　　not unlike the basket rattles used by children here, though much

　　larger, and hold up their hands to heaven for a blessing. It is then

　　the greatest offerings are made; and those children whom our wise men

　　foretel will be fortunate are then presented to different people. I

　　remember many used to come to see me, and I was carried about to

　　others for that purpose. They have many offerings, particularly at

　　full moons; generally two at harvest before the fruits are taken out

　　of the ground: and when any young animals are killed, sometimes they

　　offer up part of them as a sacrifice. These offerings, when made by

　　one of the heads of a family, serve for the whole. I remember we often

　　had them at my father's and my uncle's, and their families have been

　　present. Some of our offerings are eaten with bitter herbs. We had a

　　saying among us to any one of a cross temper, 'That if they were to be

　　eaten, they should be eaten with bitter herbs.'

　　We practised circumcision like the Jews, and made offerings and feasts

　　on that occasion in the same manner as they did. Like them also, our

　　children were named from some event, some circumstance, or fancied

　　foreboding at the time of their birth. I was named _Olaudah_, which,

　　in our language, signifies vicissitude or fortune also, one favoured,

　　and having a loud voice and well spoken. I remember we never polluted

　　the name of the object of our adoration; on the contrary, it was

　　always mentioned with the greatest reverence; and we were totally

　　unacquainted with swearing, and all those terms of abuse and reproach

　　which find their way so readily and copiously into the languages of

　　more civilized people. The only expressions of that kind I remember

　　were 'May you rot, or may you swell, or may a beast take you.'

　　I have before remarked that the natives of this part of Africa are

　　extremely cleanly. This necessary habit of decency was with us a part

　　of religion, and therefore we had many purifications and washings;

　　indeed almost as many, and used on the same occasions, if my

　　recollection does not fail me, as the Jews. Those that touched the

　　dead at any time were obliged to wash and purify themselves before

　　they could enter a dwelling-house. Every woman too, at certain times,

　　was forbidden to come into a dwelling-house, or touch any person, or

　　any thing we ate. I was so fond of my mother I could not keep from

　　her, or avoid touching her at some of those periods, in consequence of

　　which I was obliged to be kept out with her, in a little house made

　　for that purpose, till offering was made, and then we were purified.

　　Though we had no places of public worship, we had priests and

　　magicians, or wise men. I do not remember whether they had different

　　offices, or whether they were united in the same persons, but they

　　were held in great reverence by the people. They calculated our time,

　　and foretold events, as their name imported, for we called them

　　Ah-affoe-way-cah, which signifies calculators or yearly men, our year

　　being called Ah-affoe. They wore their beards, and when they died they

　　were succeeded by their sons. Most of their implements and things of

　　value were interred along with them. Pipes and tobacco were also put

　　into the grave with the corpse, which was always perfumed and

　　ornamented, and animals were offered in sacrifice to them. None

　　accompanied their funerals but those of the same profession or tribe.

　　These buried them after sunset, and always returned from the grave by

　　a different way from that which they went.

　　These magicians were also our doctors or physicians. They practised

　　bleeding by cupping; and were very successful in healing wounds and

　　expelling poisons. They had likewise some extraordinary method of

　　discovering jealousy, theft, and poisoning; the success of which no

　　doubt they derived from their unbounded influence over the credulity

　　and superstition of the people. I do not remember what those methods

　　were, except that as to poisoning: I recollect an instance or two,

　　which I hope it will not be deemed impertinent here to insert, as it

　　may serve as a kind of specimen of the rest, and is still used by the

　　negroes in the West Indies. A virgin had been poisoned, but it was not

　　known by whom: the doctors ordered the corpse to be taken up by some

　　persons, and carried to the grave. As soon as the bearers had raised

　　it on their shoulders, they seemed seized with some[F] sudden

　　impulse, and ran to and fro unable to stop themselves. At last, after

　　having passed through a number of thorns and prickly bushes unhurt,

　　the corpse fell from them close to a house, and defaced it in the

　　fall; and, the owner being taken up, he immediately confessed the

　　poisoning[G].

　　The natives are extremely cautious about poison. When they buy any

　　eatable the seller kisses it all round before the buyer, to shew him

　　it is not poisoned; and the same is done when any meat or drink is

　　presented, particularly to a stranger. We have serpents of different

　　kinds, some of which are esteemed ominous when they appear in our

　　houses, and these we never molest. I remember two of those ominous

　　snakes, each of which was as thick as the calf of a man's leg, and in

　　colour resembling a dolphin in the water, crept at different times

　　into my mother's night-house, where I always lay with her, and coiled

　　themselves into folds, and each time they crowed like a cock. I was

　　desired by some of our wise men to touch these, that I might be

　　interested in the good omens, which I did, for they were quite

　　harmless, and would tamely suffer themselves to be handled; and then

　　they were put into a large open earthen pan, and set on one side of

　　the highway. Some of our snakes, however, were poisonous: one of them

　　crossed the road one day when I was standing on it, and passed between

　　my feet without offering to touch me, to the great surprise of many

　　who saw it; and these incidents were accounted by the wise men, and

　　therefore by my mother and the rest of the people, as remarkable omens

　　in my favour.

　　Such is the imperfect sketch my memory has furnished me with of the

　　manners and customs of a people among whom I first drew my breath. And

　　here I cannot forbear suggesting what has long struck me very

　　forcibly, namely, the strong analogy which even by this sketch,

　　imperfect as it is, appears to prevail in the manners and customs of

　　my countrymen and those of the Jews, before they reached the Land of

　　Promise, and particularly the patriarchs while they were yet in that

　　pastoral state which is described in Genesis--an analogy, which alone

　　would induce me to think that the one people had sprung from the

　　other. Indeed this is the opinion of Dr. Gill, who, in his commentary

　　on Genesis, very ably deduces the pedigree of the Africans from Afer

　　and Afra, the descendants of Abraham by Keturah his wife and concubine

for both these titles are applied to her

. It is also conformable to

　　the sentiments of Dr. John Clarke, formerly Dean of Sarum, in his

　　Truth of the Christian Religion: both these authors concur in

　　ascribing to us this original. The reasonings of these gentlemen are

　　still further confirmed by the scripture chronology; and if any

　　further corroboration were required, this resemblance in so many

　　respects is a strong evidence in support of the opinion. Like the

　　Israelites in their primitive state, our government was conducted by

　　our chiefs or judges, our wise men and elders; and the head of a

　　family with us enjoyed a similar authority over his household with

　　that which is ascribed to Abraham and the other patriarchs. The law of

　　retaliation obtained almost universally with us as with them: and even

　　their religion appeared to have shed upon us a ray of its glory,

　　though broken and spent in its passage, or eclipsed by the cloud with

　　which time, tradition, and ignorance might have enveloped it; for we

　　had our circumcision

a rule I believe peculiar to that people:

we

　　had also our sacrifices and burnt-offerings, our washings and

　　purifications, on the same occasions as they had.

　　As to the difference of colour between the Eboan Africans and the

　　modern Jews, I shall not presume to account for it. It is a subject

　　which has engaged the pens of men of both genius and learning, and is

　　far above my strength. The most able and Reverend Mr. T. Clarkson,

　　however, in his much admired Essay on the Slavery and Commerce of the

　　Human Species, has ascertained the cause, in a manner that at once

　　solves every objection on that account, and, on my mind at least, has

　　produced the fullest conviction. I shall therefore refer to that

　　performance for the theory[H], contenting myself with extracting a

　　fact as related by Dr. Mitchel[I]. "The Spaniards, who have inhabited

　　America, under the torrid zone, for any time, are become as dark

　　coloured as our native Indians of Virginia; of which _I myself have

　　been a witness_." There is also another instance[J] of a Portuguese

　　settlement at Mitomba, a river in Sierra Leona; where the inhabitants

　　are bred from a mixture of the first Portuguese discoverers with the

　　natives, and are now become in their complexion, and in the woolly

　　quality of their hair, _perfect negroes_, retaining however a

　　smattering of the Portuguese language.

　　These instances, and a great many more which might be adduced, while

　　they shew how the complexions of the same persons vary in different

　　climates, it is hoped may tend also to remove the prejudice that some

　　conceive against the natives of Africa on account of their colour.

　　Surely the minds of the Spaniards did not change with their

　　complexions! Are there not causes enough to which the apparent

　　inferiority of an African may be ascribed, without limiting the

　　goodness of God, and supposing he forbore to stamp understanding on

　　certainly his own image, because "carved in ebony." Might it not

　　naturally be ascribed to their situation? When they come among

　　Europeans, they are ignorant of their language, religion, manners, and

　　customs. Are any pains taken to teach them these? Are they treated as

　　men? Does not slavery itself depress the mind, and extinguish all its

　　fire and every noble sentiment? But, above all, what advantages do not

　　a refined people possess over those who are rude and uncultivated. Let

　　the polished and haughty European recollect that his ancestors were

　　once, like the Africans, uncivilized, and even barbarous. Did Nature

　　make _them_ inferior to their sons? and should _they too_ have been

　　made slaves? Every rational mind answers, No. Let such reflections as

　　these melt the pride of their superiority into sympathy for the wants

　　and miseries of their sable brethren, and compel them to acknowledge,

　　that understanding is not confined to feature or colour. If, when they

　　look round the world, they feel exultation, let it be tempered with

　　benevolence to others, and gratitude to God, "who hath made of one

　　blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth[K];

　　and whose wisdom is not our wisdom, neither are our ways his ways."