ing alliances between them and the are perhaps the most attractive of all natives, have given birth to races so the women of this part of the earth; completely adulterated, that it is im- the beauty of their eyes is particularly possible to decide to which they be- remarkable, and their mild lustre forlong. Here, colonies of conquerors bids him who gazes to think of their have driven men from their natal dark complexion, or of their habihome; these, more ferocious yet, they tually-meagre forms. have exterminated the peaceful be- In Europe, even in the midst of the ings, whose territories they had in- great mass of people with which it is vaded. In all the Archipelago, in the peopled, do we not meet with mixgulf of Mexico, there does not re- tures limited to a small portion of main a single American; nothing is land, and which present, both moto be seen there but whites, descend- rally and physically, marked differants of the first usurpers, blacks re- ences that are perpetuated with duced to the most barbarous slavery, greater or less duration, according to and mongrels which have issued from the sort of obstacles which they intertheir alliances. In the United States posed against alliances with neighof America, the indigenous inhabit- bouring nations, or with those who ants have been destroyed, or driven are co-partners of the soil and its proaway, so that there is not now one to ductions. And these isolated and be found there. distinct societies are not so rare as we It is besides necessary that all the may imagine. In modern times these people of the earth should be known. individual groups have been recog Vast countries are yet new to obser- nized, and have shewn a dissimilarity vation, and there yet remains many so marked in their form, and princí lands to be discovered. In the re- pally in their customs, that they must gions which were most anciently be regarded as forming a race of be inhabited, and the most populous, ings distinct from those among whom in India, for example, fragments of they live. ancient colonies have been preserved It has been, for example, only a in the midst of the most violent con- few years since the difference was cussions which have shaken these fine discovered between the people of the countries. I will cite only a single little island, or to speak more proexample from an English author, perly, of the peninsula of Portland, who has written upon a people, or and the rest of the inhabitants of Engrather the wrecks of a people, of land. This maritime division of whom we have no idea: these are the Great Britain, agreeable, fertile, and Jattes, descendants of Ram-gi. From celebrated for its fine quarries, of a the most remote times they were hus- calcareous and very compact sort of bandmen, and to this day they ho- stone, is inhabited by the most beaunour, in an especial manner, agricul- tiful men; their forms, though roture. Their chiefs resided at Agra, bust, are nevertheless very elegant, and they were the masters of a consi- and they exhibit at the same time a derable country. But since their model of the graces and of strength; nation was conquered by Nadjar- but their manners are still more Kan, it has fallen into oblivion; its remarkable than their exterior, possessions became the prey of the and separate them more decidedly conqueror, and it is reduced to the from the rest of the English*. town of Barfoor, the capital of the One of the most singular of their country, which remains to them. customs, and the origin of which is The chief retains the title of Rajah; lost in its antiquity, is that which he is at once their civil and religious they follow in the unions which they chief. The religion of the Jattes is contract among themselves. They the same as that of the Hindoos; never marry until the woman of they are the only ones in India who whom they made choice, is with sacrifice to the Father, Sun, and to the Moon. Their women are olive* See the description of the Eddycomplexioned and meagre; they are stone Light House, London, 1796; very fecund, but they cease to breed and the Bibliotheque Britannique, for at the age of five and thirty. They the month of April, same year, p.611. this colony who lived there have been able to preserve their manners and ancient customs. On elevated mountains, and difficult of access, may also be found other people, who in their social system recall the history of the ancient nations from which they have descended. It is thus, that on the tops of the Vosges the philosopher may discover the simplicity of the Gaulish manners and customs, and the valorous and independent horde who have fixed liberty upon the rocks of Maina, present all the characters of the Spartans, their ancestors, From what has been here advanced, it is easy to conclude that it is impossible to establish an exact division between the different races of man. It is in vain, with the compass in our hands, to look on a map for the boundaries of a country occupied by this primitive race, or to measure the different angles which are to be observed in the heads of its inhabitants; nothing but indecision in the one, and in the other, can be obtained. Political history may trace with exactitude in nations, the line of separation between the different powers which they have formed; but natural history has not the same advantages, because various alliances have confounded their moral and physical traits, and given birth to such a multiplicity of shades, that we can neither arrive at the knowledge of them all, nor disentangle them in a positive manner. child; and what is still more extraordinary, is that such a custom, which appears to open the door to licentious desires, is in fact no such thing; it is only a proof, which they consider as indispensable, before engaging in the indissoluble ties of marriage; but these ties once completed, conjugal fidelity suffers no spot, and the faith once pledged is never violated. The parish registers in 1796, bore only one natural child during the space of one hundred and fifty years. The assiduities of a young man who intend marriage, supposes always at Portland, complete proofs. As soon as symptoms of pregnancy appear, the woman apprises her mother of it; the mother communicates it to the father, who in his turn informs the father of the lover, and this last tells his son it is now time to marry. But if this previous connexion have no consequences, that is, if the women do not prove with child, they merely conclude that Providence has not destined them to come together, they therefore separate; the honour of the young girl is considered as spotless, and a new lover enters the lists with no more repugnance than if she was a widow, who had not already given to another the greatest testimony of attachment. The workmen of London, whom they sent to Portland to work at the materials for the famous Eddystone light-house, were at first enchanted with the easy and delightful reception they met with from the girls of the island. Many of them, in due time, became pregnant; but when they demanded marriage in consequence, the citizens turned a deaf ear to it. There was, in consequence, a general insurrection of all the women; they threatened to drive the Londoners with stones from the island; and those who did not agree to marry the objects of their toying, were forced to fly, and never appear Faithful to the plan which they there again. From that period the have adopted, they have looked upon ancient custom has been re-establish- man only with regard to his external ed, and it is rigorously ob erved. qualities; and in their systematic arThis httle country of Portland is rangement, they have scarce y paid surrounded with rocks, which render attention to the most important obit inaccessible on all sides, except by ject, and at the same time the most a single strait, defended by a strong worthy of being examined, the mancastle. Separated from the rest of ners and customs which constitute the mankind by a natural barrier, offer- genius of a people; so that their labour ing no temptation to their avidity, is rather a very superficial anatomy Yet there are persons accustomed to methodical, but often arbitrary, divisions, who have pretended that they could class men in the same manner as they have classed animals. They have divided them into masses restricted to large portions of the globe; and they have represented, as very regular, an order which rests, in fact, on a basis without foundation. of nations, than the natural history of himself with ample and roomy vestthose great human societies. How- ments; he is directed by opinion. ever imperfect, and however uncer- The African is black, flegmatic, and tain this manner of contemplation large. He has black and curly hair, may be, yet it will be curious to be- a shining skin, a short flat nose, hold, under one point of view, the thick lips; he is artful, indolent, and labours of the principal authors who negligent; he rubs himselt with have adopted this pinciple. grease, and is guided only by whim and fantasy.* The first who distributed human nature into great varieties, is an ano- Gmelin, who published the thirnymous writer, whose memoir was teenth edition of the Sytema Naturæ inserted in the Journal des Savans, justly dissatisfied with the division of towards the latter end of the seven- Linnæus, purposed to substitute for teenth century.* This first variety it another which is hardly more which his system establishes, com- exact, being founded on the different prises all Europe, Lapland excepted, shades of colours. The white man, Eastern Asia, the whole of North Ameria, and Africa; the second occupies the rest of Africa; the third the rest of Asia, with the islands of the south; and the fourth is confined to Lapland! whose forins approach the nearest to perfection, would be the inhabitant of almost all Europe, of Asia between the Obi, the Caspian Sea, Mount Imats, and the Ganges; Northern Asia, and even the Greenlanders, and The same number of divisions has the Esquimaux; the race of tawny been adopted by Linnæus; but he men, with their hair, flat figure, has given to them the same extent small eyes, would occupy the other as to the four grand divisions of the countries of Europe;-the black, with earth: Europe, Asia, Africa, and curly hair, flat nose, thick lips, would America. The man of America be spread over all Africa, excepting is, according to this celebrated natu- the north part; the men of a copper ralist, of a copper colour, choleric complexion would compose the whole and straight. His hair is black, of the American race, except the flat, and thick; his nostrils large; Greenlanders and the Esquimaux; his face is covered with red spots, lastly, the brown man, with a large and his chin almost beardless. He nose and thick hair, would constitute is obstinate, contented, and free; he the population of the South Sea, and paints skilfully in red, and is conduct- the greater part of the islands of the ed solely by habit. The European is Indian sea. white, sanguine, and muscular; he In order to approach still nearer to has blue eyes and long flaxen hair; truth, Hunter has fixed seven variehis mind is light, flexible, and fit for ties in the human species, that of the discoveries; he covers himself with blacks, namely, Ethiopians, &c.; that tight clothes, and customs govern of the partly black, or Moors, and him. The Asiatic, continues Lin- the inhabitants of the Cape of Good pæus, has a livid complexion, a me- Hope; that of the copper coloured, lancholy temperament, and a coarse occupying the East Indies; that of body. His hair is black, and his eyes of a blackish hue; he is grave, and loves pomp and luxury; he covers In the year 1684. p. 133. Rectus in this, no doubt, he alludes to stature, and not to a quality of the mind or to a virtue. But this deserves to be accurately explained. Seeking to be concise, he has rendered himself obscure. Luridus, melancholicus, rigidus. the red, or Americans; that of the [To be concluded in our next.] *Syst. Nat. Homo. twenty years we do not experience something of its salutary effects in les sening our poor's rates? In the parish schools of London and Westminster, not less than 213,240 children have been educated since the year 1777, and in a manner very far,supe→ rior to what is proposed, or can even be expected, under Mr. Whitbread's bill. LETTER XIII-On the Management does it happen that in the course of of the Affairs of the Poor. WHEN any new scheme is intended to be passed into a law, it is generally introduced by the proposer, with a long and flowery speech, to induce the listening audience to believe that they have carefully considered the principles, and the great and important consequences which will immediately follow upon their plan being adopted; when all they know of their subject is from a hint or an idea thrown out by another person, and it is often taken up without considering whether it will be of sufficient energy to resist the evils it is intended to counteract. Mr. Whitbread having read in the Rev. Mr. Malthus's publication, that the leading principle for lessening our parochial burdens, would be " to elevate, as much as possible, the general character of the lower order of the people, and to draw a marked line between the dependant and the independent poor," he hath hastily concluded that this is the best method of proceeding, to check a further increase of our parochial burdens; and that this can only be accomplished by building cottages for labourers, and schools for the instruction of their children. By the returns of the officers to parliament A.D. 1803, the number of children instructed in the schools of industry only in England and Wales, amounted to 21,589, exclusively of children in different charity and sunday schools, which will add considerably to the number in the whole kingdom, and the total amount cannot be less than between thirty and forty thousand. Is not this a sufficient trial to shew whether this plan of education, which is proposed, is of itself equal to the promoting of the cause of industry, sobriety, and of a religious conversa tion; and can we not prove that our parochial burdens have not been lightened by it? But facts shall speak for themselves. In the year 1776, the poor's rates in England and Wales armounted to 1,720,316/. 14s. 7d.; at Easter, 1783, we have the sum of 2,167,749l. 13s. 8d.; and at Easter 1803, the sum of 5,348,2051. gs. 3 d. Education will certainly tend to polish the rough manners of men, to refine their thoughts, and exalt their ideas; but the great question is, whe- As this enormous advance is within ther a slight knowledge of letters will our own memories, and ought to be correct the evil propensities and mend known by every member of parliathe heart, and arm the mind with ment, must not the public conclude fortitude to resist the evil examples of that either Mr. Whitbread hath not the present day. If we are not cer- attended to what is passed, or that he tain it will do this, the extending of is determined to persist in defiance of the prospects of the poor beyond the all experience, because the Rev. Mr. narrow limits of their station, is the Malthus hath informed him, that if direct way to make them discontent- we hope for any relaxation of our paed, and to render them miserable. rochial burdens, the leading principle Who would till the ground? Who to lessen it must be to exalt the chawould toil and sweat? Who would racter of the poor, and that it must be bear the heat and burden of the day, done by education? to procure a scanty and a homely pit- I believe, from the facts I have here tance, if they had the means in their produced, that it will be evident to hands of bursting their fetters, and every person of a common undergoing forth from the cottage, from la- standing, that we want a code of laws Bour, and from poverty, to take their of a very different description from chance in the lottery of human life? any which are now offered us, to If there be so much depending up- check the alarming increase of our on the education of the poor, how parochial rates. UNIVERSAL MAG. VOL. VIII. 2 P But a part of Mr. Whitbread's plan the poor have been driven to seek a is the building of cottages for the vil- shelter where they could find it. lage poor. They who are unacquainted with the method of passing bills into a law, will hardly believe, that while Mr. Whitbread was busily employed in pressing forward his own statute for the building of cottages, he should silently let another bill pass on unopposed for demolishing them. The bill alluded to, is for inclosing what is called a minnis in Kent, and for taking down the cottages. Mr. Whitbread may perhaps have observed the distresses which have followed close upon the poor in the neighbouring villages, by enclosing Enfield Chace. The cottagers who had been accustomed to the privi lege of commonage, and to have the run of a cow, a few sheep or black cattle, cannot now keep a goose; and the little land that hath been allotted them they could not inclose, and they have been obliged to part with it for If we are to pass statutes to demo- sixteen or twenty pounds; and if lish the habitations of the poor that common fame be not a liar, two of we may erect others for them at the three families have been compelled to public expence, are we not sacrificing crowd into a small cottage, and like the interest of a large body of the their ancestors of old, when Julius community to promote the advantage Cæsar visited our island, have been of a few landholders? while they who glad to lodge together in the same are not benefited by the inclosures room, and a promiscuous intercourse are called upon to contribute their of the sexes hath been the conse part towards accomplishing this new quence. system for elevating the character of the poor. It is right that every poor family should have a separate habitation, that they may not be driven into the midst of temptations; and it is as right that they who have dispossessed them of the right of commonage, and of their cottage, and have reaped the advantage of six or seven hundred a year, should find them another near their work. Have I have read that not less than 216 acts have passed during the present reign, for the inclosing of commons, and of course for the demolishing of cottages, and for distressing of the poor inhabitants. If we include the two preceding reigns, it is said that 2280 bills have received the royal assent for inclosures, and about Why are the poor suffered to alien2,800,000 acres of land have been ate the small portion of land allotted inclosed by them, but it will be diffi- them in bills of inclosure? cult to say how many cottagers have they any more than a life estate in it? been driven from their hovels. They And ought not trustees to be aphave not only been dispossessed of pointed, as in cases of charity, to pretheir habitations, but their garden for the cultivation of potatoes, from the feeding of a cow, a few sheep, and a pig, but from fuel for baking their bread, and other culinary purposes; and it hath entailed distress upon thousands. If we reverse this picture it will be seen, that in every part of the kingdom the face of the country hath put on a different aspect since the inclosing system hath been introduced. Stately houses have been erected, pleasure grounds and gardens have succeeded to unproductive heaths, and cultivation and industry have produced fields waving with corn, and yielding a plentiful crop; but let it be remembered, that in making room for these pleasing improvements, serve it for the poor from age to age? And if sold to make room for the park, or the pleasure ground of the lord, or the esquire, ought not the sums which are produced by the sale to be funded, and the interest applied from time to time, to pay their rent, or procure them necessaries? If this plan had been uniformly pursued from the beginning of the inclosing system, it may be a question whether we should have wanted cottages for the village poor? When collectors of taxes find it impossible for the people to pay those which are already imposed on them, surely it is neither wise nor prudent, in times like the present, to endeavour to impose an additional burden o; upwards of one million, and a cons.der |