to the passive people who are so much at the mercy of their masters'
tempers, I shall indeed be proud.

[Again, speaking of the condition of servants, Captain Skinner
remarks--]

It is impossible to view some members of the despised class without
sorrow and pity, particularly those who are attached, in the lowest
offices, to the establishments of the Europeans. They are the most
melancholy race of beings, always alone, and apparently unhappy: they
are scouted from the presence even of their fellow-servants. None but
the mind of a poet could imagine such outcasts venturing to raise
their thoughts to the beauty of a Brahmin's daughter; and a touching
tale in such creative fancy, no doubt, it would make, for, from their
outward appearances, I do not perceive why they should not be endowed
with minds as sensitive at least as those of the castes above them.
There are among them some very stout and handsome men; and it is
ridiculous to see sometimes all their strength devoted to the charge
of a sickly puppy;--to take care of dogs being their principal
occupation!

Our attention has been drawn to the above passage in Captain Skinner's
work, by its ready illustration of the views and conclusions of the
late Dr. Knox, in his invaluable _Spirit of Despotism_, Section 2,
"Oriental manners, and the ideas imbibed in youth, both in the East
and West Indies, favourable to the spirit of despotism." How forcibly
applicable, on the present occasion, is the following extract:--"from
the intercourse of England with the East and West Indies, it is to be
feared that something of a more servile spirit has been derived than
was known among those who established the free constitutions of