menon of grandeur, and were delighted with the handfuls of silver which were thrown among them by the unknown hand. Our Nabob enquired for the principal inn of the place; but, alas! there was no mansion there fit for the reception of so magnificent a guest; and but one petty alehouse, the owner of which was a sort of Factotum, as thè sign he exhibited over his door indicated; being an intimation, that the ingenious owner acted in the treble capacity of parishclerk, grave-digger, and barber-surgeon, and politely inviting the passenger to step in either to be shaved, his corns cut, a tooth drawn, or a little blood let. To this humble abode was our great man obliged to adjourn for a while. Not a soul knew a word about him; all was amazement, whisper, and conjecture! till the Nabob ordered his valet de chambre to go and inform his father that he desired an interview with him: the old man was surprized at the sight of this sable Mercury, bedizened out as he was in a glittering livery; but when he heard his message, that manly and honest pride, which is necessary to keep the poor but irreproachable man from sinking into contempt, was instantly awakened. He indignantly desired the footman to tell his master, that, "if he was too great a man to wait upon his father, he" (the latter) "would not demean himself by waiting on his proud and undutiful

son."

Young men coming abroad to either of the Indies, should be cautioned to keep a watchful guard over their tongues, when asked questions relative to the kindred and connections of Nabobs, otherwise they may unfortunately blab out very unacceptable pieces of information, such as may injure their own interests, disgrace their patrons, and enrage their friends and families. Some very humourous mistakes of this kind sometimes occur,-where the equivoque between untutored sincerity on one hand, and offended pride on the other, would have formed an excellent scene in a modern comedy.

The man who has acquired a considerable degree of wealth and influence in Jamaica, is enabled thereby to appear with great eclat, and make a very conspicuous figure, both by the splendour of his establishment, and by the rank, place, and honorary distinction, which he spares neither pains nor expence to obtain. In so narrow a sphere, such men shine with a dazzling lustre, and spread a broad blaze of light; in Great Britain they appear, like dim stars, shorn of their beams; there they shrink into comparative insignificance. The proud and supercilious upstart to wealth and distinction, has been here spoken of. It is not from thence to be inferred, that there are not many worthy individuals who acquire, in the West Indies, the advantages of wealth, yet retain the good sense and liberality

not to expose themselves by idle and ostentatious parade, to assume extraordinary honours, to triumph in the superiority of wealth, or insult, by an implied comparison, or the authority of power, indigent and unfriended merit.

CHAP. XVII.

Causes to which may be attributed the too general dissoluteness of manners in Jamaica.— Thoughts on religion, and religious habits.Pride of wealth, &c.

THE debauched and profligate lives which so large a proportion of the white inhabitants of Jamaica lead is owing to many causes. It has already been observed, that all those in the planting line (indeed all those living in the interior, of whatever description), seldom or never attend any religious institution; nor do they either read pious books themselves, nor enjoin their children to do so. Sunday here is a day like any other, except for the form sake; and religious piety and devotion are terms which may be said to be blotted from the Jamaica vocabulary. It would be superfluous to enter into an argument to prove that religion is, and ought to be, the foundation of all moral and decorous conduct. This has been so fully felt, and often put to the test in all ages, and so universally acknowledged by all civilized nations, that little else, even setting aside the divine authority of religion, is necessary to establish its truth. If, therefore, religion and religious instruction were more in repute than hey are in

It

this island; if its inhabitants, instead of sneering at, and turning all that regards them into ridicule, were even to pay them the homage of exterior re* spect, there is no doubt but this would in time contribute to effect a reformation in the morals and manners of the people, particularly of the rising generation, whose young minds are not yet polluted by the too prevailing contagion of vice. The ministers of religion in this region have it not in their power, from the causes already assigned, to extend their pastoral care and instruction to the whole of the inhabitants. were, however, to be wished, that all of them would not only give pious and apostolic advice to those more immediately under their care, but set an apostolic example, by the regularity of their lives and the disinterestedness of their labours, to these their flocks. It is true they are a perverse, hardened, and truant set of sheep; but that is the very reason why the watchful shepherd should double his diligence and his endeavours to bring back into the fold the refractory and vicious, by wholesome precept and good example.

A small improvement in morals and manners has certainly taken place, in some respects, in this island, even within the author's own knowledge; as in the article of hard drinking, treatment of negroes,

&c. but still much re

mains yet to be done. From the very nature of the country, and the general state of society