NEGROES.
Two important questions present themselves with regard to negroes: first,
the lawfulness or expediency of slavery; and secondly, the comparative
equality of the whites and blacks. The History of the World teaches us
that slavery is independent of colour, and existed every where of old,
under every form of Government. But the abolition of slavery was the work
of the Christian religion, of which it is one of the noblest mercies; and
let us never forget the saying of Montesquieu, "that it is our business to
prove the negroes less than men, lest they prove us to be less than
Christians."
The celebrated Abbé Grégoire was one of the most zealous and persevering
advocates of the negroes. So enthusiastic was he in their cause, that he
might have been supposed to have undertaken it as a reproach to their
white brethren.
With regard to the question of innate equality between the two races, we
cannot conceive a more apt illustration than that made by a Creole child,
on hearing at his father's table, a discussion upon negroes, a subject on
which most colonists differ entirely from the Abbé Grégoire.
In the course of dessert, a gentleman, who had been loudest in
opprobriating the negroes, desired to be helped to grapes. The child
pertinaciously insisted on giving him white grapes instead of the black,
to which he had pointed. "One kind is as good as the other," said the
gentleman, "the only difference is in the colour of the skin." "And why
then," cried the child, "do you persist in refusing the same concession to
the poor negroes?"
The scholiasts have written much which has tended only to render more
obscure the origin of the negro race; some deriving it from Cain, and
attributing its blackness to Divine wrath after the murder of Abel; others
from Shem, the son of Noah, which is the opinion of Dr. Hanneman, as is
seen in his Latin Treatise upon the colour of "the Descendants of Shem."
The learned German quotes numerous proofs of the culpable conduct of Shem
towards his father; adding that Shem had long practised the art of magic,
and being unable to transport into the ark all his works of witchcraft and
magic, had them engraved upon brass and stone, so as to find them after
the deluge. Hanneman cites the authority of Luther, who formally asserts
that the skin of Shem was blackened as a punishment for his irreverence;
and quotes a passage from the learned Ulricius, who in his treaty De
Tacticis, established that the sons of Ham had white skins, those of
Japhet a brownish complexion, while those of Shem were black as ebony.
The anatomist, Meiners, adopting the theory of the facial angle, excluded
the negroes from the human race, and placed them in the family of apes and
ourang-outangs.
According to the Abbé Grégoire, all black skinned races descend from the
Ethiopian. He founds his opinion upon the works of Herodotus,
Theophrastes, Pausanias, Athenoeus, Eusebius, Heliodorus, Josephus, Pliny,
and Terence; all of whom, in speaking of negroes, call them Ethiopians. As
regards their origin, all we know is, that the Ethiopians are from the
interior of Africa, and that their ancestors had short and woolly hair,
black skins, and thick lips.
How are we to conciliate these pretensions with the assertions of
Diodorus, the Sicilian, supported by those of the learned Hearne? Some
affirm, on the other hand, that the Egyptians descend direct from the
Ethiopians; the pure Egyptian race existing only in the Copts, who have
woolly hair, round heads, flattened noses, and protruding cheek-bones.
Similar signs certainly characterize both negroes and Ethiopians. Egypt
was the cradle of civilization, and if inhabited by the Ethiopian race,
with the negroes originated sciences, arts, and institutions. In that
case, the problem of equality of intelligence becomes painfully solved;
and if we now possess a vast superiority of intellect over the negroes, we
owe it to their ancestors, who were our masters in almost every branch of
polite knowledge.
With regard to colour, Virgil has said, "nimium ne crede colori." Dr.
Beddoes, moreover, completely overcame the difficulty; for by frequently
immersing the hand of a negro in a solution of muriatic acid, he rendered
it as white as ivory. In these speculative times, we should not be much
surprised to see a company established for washing the black population
white. This might furnish matter for reflection to Mr. Williams, of
Vermont, who in his History of that State, requires four thousand years
for effecting the transition from black to white, through the sole
influence of climate.
Meiners, as we have seen, classes the negroes in the monkey tribe. How are
we to reconcile this sacrilegious classification with the dogmas of the
church, which canonize two blacks, viz. St. Elesbaan, patron of the
Portuguese and Spaniards, and the Queen of Sheba, the wife of Solomon?
Another great writer affirms, that black was the original colour of the
human race; and that the white race is in a state of degeneration.
Monsieur de Pauw shows the question of the negroes in another light,
refusing them an aptitude for civilization equal to the whites; but
attributing their colour to the scorching heat of the sun, which, by
wasting the brain, diminishes the faculties and organs of intelligence
that distinguish Europeans. Dr. Gall goes further, and pronounces the
negroes to be wholly deficient in the organs of music and mathematics.
We cannot, however, expect to find the organ of music prominent in the
organization of man in a state of nature. As to the organ of mathematics,
were the negroes completely deficient in this, Meiners would be correct in
his assimilation; for the higher order of mathematics is not here implied,
but the simplest acts of calculation. No operation of the mind, however,
is possible without the aid of a certain kind of calculation. Moreover,
experience tends to confute the system of Dr. Gall. It is well known that
in Africa, there are nations far advanced in civilization; a false kind of
civilization, perhaps, and tainted with barbarism. They have no opera, for
instance, nor a jockey club, nor the excitement of breaking their necks at
steeple-chases. But they have cities, tribunals, laws, judges,
institutions, and armies; they declare war and make peace; discuss the
interests of the State, raise taxes, and regulate the public expenditure.
Denyan, who resided thirteen years in the kingdom of Juida, was astonished
by their wonderful policy; affirming that their diplomatists were capable
of competing with the most wary European cabinets.
The Daccas, who occupy the fertile point of Cape Verd, are organized into
a Republic, under directors, lieutenants, and a hierarchy, analagous to
the different States existing in Europe. Bornou is governed by a monarchy;
but the throne is both hereditary and elective at the death of the
reigning Prince. His successors being selected from among his children
without respect to primogeniture. The most worthy is nominated to reign.
The funeral discourse is a panegyric or a censure, according to the tenor
of the reign of the deceased.
This is stronger evidence of civilization than to possess a tenor equal to
Rubini, or a dancer comparable with Taglioni.
The cities of Africa are not mere encampments. The capital of the Foulans
has seven thousand inhabitants. Mungo Park mentions that they are fond of
instruction, and read the books permitted by the Mahomedan religion with
great assiduity. In his expedition to the interior of Africa, this
celebrated traveller expresses his surprise at meeting with so much
unexpected magnificence. The city of Sego had thirty thousand inhabitants;
her population being less than those of Jenna, Timbuctoo, and Haussa.
Barrow extols the character and pleasing manners of the Boushouannas.
Their capital, Litah, has from twelve to fifteen thousand souls; ruled by
a patriarchal government. The chief executes the will of the people,
emanating from a council composed of elders. Is such a council
characteristic of barbarism? Or a proof that the moral organization of the
negroes is inferior to that of the whites?
Judging from the narratives of travellers, the maritime populations are
generally inferior to those of the interior. If this opinion be well
founded, there is every reason to infer that the circumstance arises from
the access of Europeans being less frequent with the interior than the
littoral. Often have we to deplore the demoralization we have conveyed to
distant countries. Is it just, therefore, to speak of the brutal barbarity
of the negroes, when all we see of it is partly our own work?
If we proceed from nations to individuals, a whole catalogue of eminent
black men and mulattos presents itself. The name of Henry Diaz, demands a
prominent place on the list. From a common slave, he became Colonel of a
Portuguese regiment, which by his able tactics and daring courage often
defeated experienced Generals. In an engagement, in which, overpowered by
numbers, he perceived some troops on the point of giving way, he rushed
among them exclaiming: "Are these the brave companions of Henry Diaz?" On
hearing which, his men returned to the charge, and drove the enemy from
the field. In 1645, in the heat of battle, a ball penetrated his left hand
which he was about to have amputated, when he exclaimed: "Every finger of
my right hand shall learn to grasp the sword!"
The famous St. George was a mulatto. His skill in fencing won him an
European reputation, and no one could surpass him in the art of
equitation. Moreover, Dr. Gall would have been forced to admit his
prodigious talent for music. Fifty years ago, the compositions of St.
George were eminently the fashion in the Parisian drawing-rooms.
The republican armies boasted among the bravest of the brave, General
Alexander Dumas, who, though a mulatto, was surnamed by his companions in
arms, the Horatius Cocles of the Tyrol. Before Lille, accompanied only by
four of his men, he attacked a post of fifty Austrians, of whom he killed
six, and made sixteen prisoners. With the Army of the Alps, he scaled
Mount St. Bernard, stormed a redoubt, and turned the guns against the
enemy. He was the father of the French dramatist, Alexander Dumas, who has
immolated as many victims in his dramas, as his father destroyed in the
enemies of his country.
Job-Ben-Solomon, son of the Mahomedan King of Banda, on the Gambia, was
taken prisoner in 1750, conducted to America, and sold as a slave. He had
a superior order of mind, understood Arabic, and was distinguished for his
talents. He enjoyed the friendship of Sir Hans Sloane, for whom he
translated several Arabic manuscripts; and was treated with distinction by
the Court of London, till the African Company had him reconducted to his
States. At the death of his father, he assumed the sceptre, and after
being the slave of Europeans, became the idol of his subjects. The history
of Job-Ben-Solomon presents a victorious argument against the prejudice
concerning negroes, for in him there existed not only courage but
intellect. A son of the King of Nimbana, who was educated in England, died
soon after his return to his native land; but during his stay in England,
he manifested great proofs of ability. He cultivated several sciences with
success, learnt several languages, and read the Bible in the original.
Ramsay, who passed twenty years of his life among the negroes, mentions
their impressive eloquence when excited, as well as their talent for
mimicry and acting, in which they were not inferior to some of the best
performers then known in England. In Africa, they have various national
musical instruments, of which sixteen are stringed; without counting their
famous balafon, resembling the once famed spinet. Vocal music is as
familiar to them as instrumental; and their composers have been known to
produce melodies replete with grace. We may here quote Gossec, whose
opinion on the subject of music is preferable to that of Dr. Gall, as
being one of the greatest musical composers of his time; and in his famous
opera of the "Camp de Grand Pré," he introduced a negro melody from St.
Domingo, which met with immense success. The Abbé Grégoire also speaks of
certain itinerant negro minstrels, who sang, played, and narrated like the
minstrels of old.
The negro race, therefore, have produced both heroes and artists, as well
as figured with distinction in the sciences. Derrham, once a slave at
Philadelphia, was made over to a physician, who employed him in the
compounding of his medicines. But soon ambition laid hold of the soul of
the slave, he acquired French, English, Spanish, and Latin; and perfected
himself in the hygienic and therapeutic sciences with such success, that,
in 1788, he was esteemed the most eminent practitioner in New Orleans, and
consulted from all parts of America.
Another negro, named Amo, claims attention as distinguished in the annals
of science. A native of Guinea, he was brought to Amsterdam in 1707, and
presented to the Duke Augustus of Wolfenbüttel, who sent him to study at
Halle and Wittenberg. After distinguishing himself at both those
Universities, he publicly sustained a thesis upon the rights of the
negroes, "de Jure Manorum." Amo was versed in astronomy; spoke Latin,
Greek, Hebrew French, Dutch, and German, there were, indeed, few better
linguists. Some years ago, a Swedish professor having addressed one of our
academies in Latin, the different members, perplexed by their
insufficient acquaintance with that tongue, sent in great haste for one
of their absent members, the only one qualified to answer the learned
foreigner. This was the late Andrieux; but had the negro, Amo, been in the
way, he might have supplied his place. Amo was not only a man of universal
information, but had the art of imparting it to others. Differing from his
white colleagues, he preferred instructing his scholars to the ambition of
acquiring personal renown. His lectures, from the able manner in which he
combined the advantages of the ancient and modern systems, attracted
numerous auditors. He was invested with a diploma in 1744; the first
instance of a negro arriving at that distinction. Amo left a Dissertation
upon Sensation considered as distinct from the Soul, and present to the
body. Frederick the Great, who then reigned in Prussia, conferred the
dignity of Councillor of State upon Amo. But these honours, unprecedented
for a man of his colour, did not dazzle him so as to render him insensible
to the land of his birth. Pining for his native air, he resolved, after
the death of his patron, the Duke of Brunswick, to return, after thirty
years' absence, to his birth-place, Axim, on the Gold Coast; nor was
anything further heard of him in Europe after his departure for that
obscure place.
Buffon, who was the contemporary of Amo, did not distinguish himself by
his definition of the negro race. "Negroes," said he, "are tall, fat,
well-made, but devoid of mind and genius." The great naturalist looked no
deeper than the epidermis, and was greatly mistaken in asserting negroes
to be tall and fat; as in general their stature scarcely equals our own.
Father Charleroy, goes farther than Buffon, by stating that, the negroes
of Guinea have but limited capacities, some being quite imbecile, and few
being able to count beyond three; that they possess no memory, the past
being as unknown to them as the future. "On the other hand," he observes,
"they are docile, simple, humane, credulous, superstitious." This
definition of Father Charleroy may apply to a certain number of negroes;
but it also applies to a certain number of whites. Buffon maintains that
the negroes colonized at Sierra Leone had only the occupations of women,
and a disgust for all useful employment. Their dwellings he states to be
miserable hovels; declaring that they prefer sterile and wild spots to
beautiful valleys clothed with trees, and watered by the clearest streams.
Their roads, he adds, are twice as long as necessary; yet they always
follow the beaten track, insensible to the waste of time, which they never
calculate. M. Descourtils, who resided at St. Domingo, and closely
observed the negroes, declares them to be ignorant, superstitious, and
barbarous; their music being detestable and unmeaning. But though such
asseverations may be founded to a certain degree on fact--after having
shown the difference that exists between the maritime and fluvial tribes
of Africa, and those settled in the interior--we are inclined to inquire
whether the negroes of America, more particularly those of St. Domingo,
ought to be selected as the standard of the negro race? Are not
disabilities attributed to colour which are, in truth, caused by slavery?
Had not the Spartan Helots the same skin as Agis and Epaminondas? Yet what
could be more marked than their distinction of nature? Would it even be
fair to judge the inhabitants of Paris and London by the swarms of footmen
in those cities?
Nevertheless, we are bound to agree with the most experienced
physiologists, that, independent of colour, independent of cerebral
conformation, independent of facial angularity, the most perfect specimens
of the human race are to be found in the temperate regions. The History of
the World bears out the fact; and upon this point, the best intentions of
philanthropy fall to the ground. Religion and humanity call aloud for the
abolition of slavery; while the massacres of St. Domingo prove the
necessity of its being prudent and progressive. At some still remote
period, posterity will probably abjure the prejudice of the white race
against the blacks. But this great revolution of popular feeling will not
be effected without long-established previous proof on the part of the
negro population, that the blessings of freedom have brought forth all the
fruits anticipated by the advocates of abolition. To decide upon their
equality of nature, in their present unequal condition, would be rash and
premature.