do wisely opine, that they are the grand cause of much of the immorality that prevails in the West Indies; although I will endeavour to lighten the load of blame that lies upon their fair (or rather dark) shoulders to the best of my poor ability.

All the world know (and it would be well if they did not) that many (for the sake of charity and chastity, I will not say all) of the managers on estates, and residents in the towns of the tropics, have sacrificed all their national morality at the shrine of a deceased philosopher, and formed a very improper liaison d'amour in lieu of that very proper liaison de mariage

"That binds so firmly and that wears so well,"

with various olive colored divinities, who "love them for themselves alone," and take the greatest possible care of their legitimate homes and of their illegitimate children.

Now, all this is a great bore, and causes more trouble to moral authors and respectable clergymen than the reader has any idea of; and while the practice exists (and, God knows, I think it will exist for ever in some places) there will be little chance of reforming the morals of the worthy inhabitants of the Antilles.

The custom I have alluded to arises from three causes, first and principally, from slavery, which has a bias upon every thing connected with it. Secondly, from the attractive powers of the male BuckrasBritish, Scotch and Irish; and thirdly, from the proud and haughty spirits of the colored ladies themselves.

Generally speaking, they look down (and very unjustly) with a feeling of contempt on men of their own color, who are, in rank, wealth, and situation in life, fairly on a level with themselves, and rather than live with them a virtuous and inoffensive life, they prefer dwelling with a white man in a state of moral degradation: again, the mulatto, finding himself despised by women of his own color, is obliged to seek a companion among those of a darker hue; and he, in his turn, deeming her unworthy to be his wife, will only maintain her in the condition of a concubine. It is thus that profligacy and immorality, beginning in the dwelling of the proprietor, descend to the hovel of the slave, and are every where practised though they are every where condemned.

The change in this system, which it would be so desirable to effect, must be, like emancipation, gradual; and yet I think the method is simple, and will do its work rapidly, although it will have to contend with strong and established prejudices, and the mighty influence of long custom and habit.

In my opinion, it is to be effected by that liberal spirit, in the minds of those who compose the legislature of the several colonies, which will induce them to grant to the colored men those privileges (many would term them rights) which they are anxious to enjoy, and certainly not unworthy to obtain.

The colored man is a being essentially differing from the slave: proud of heart, independent in spirit, valuing freedom, if it be possible, more than Englishmen value it, because he is living in a land of

slavery; ambitious, industrious, anxious to acquire knowledge, and often self-educated to a surprising degree, tenacious of his rights, decided in his character, loyal to his king, looking with a jealous eye upon his white brethren, seeking to be elevated to the same level, and desirous of moving in the same rank; fierce when stimulated to action, but too peaceable to attack without an injury; looking down with scorn, often a cruel scorn, upon his dependants and inferiors, and hardly acknowledging, even to himself, the superiority of those above him; firm in his principles of religion, willing to receive instruction, and to listen with attention to precepts that may tend, either to enlighten his ignorance or increase his knowledge; striving to maintain, always, a respectable appearance, and to gain, by honest industry, that which will enable him to vie, in point of exterior, with the whites.

Such a character fits him for the enjoyment of many privileges; and, provided his ambition be limited within proper bounds, to grant him those privileges would be to make him a good citizen, and give him an importance in the eyes of the women of color, which would go far towards effecting a most desirable object; I mean the encouragement of marriage between them, and the weakening of those motives which induce the colored women to live in immorality with a white protector.

If from religion she were to learn the impropriety of such a connexion, and from experience the happiness of a legitimate union with one of her own rank

K K

Leeward Islands. His almanack, also, stands unrivalled for the elegance of its typography, and the usefulness of its contents.

In Grenada, too, the ladies of color have not shown themselves behind the men in their progress in civilization; they are, generally speaking, better educated than their sisters in the other colonies, and many of them can play on the piano, and sing with very fair execution.

They have also, to their credit, acquired a better character for morality and religion; they are regular in their attendance at church, and are not unfrequent guests at the communion table: they already discourage the immoral connexions, of which they are themselves the offspring, and seek a more legitimate union-marriage, with white men it is true, but still marriage.

Many of my countrymen have been induced to enter with them the temple of Hymen, and I shall marvel not to hear that more have followed their example.

At all events, let the future bring what it may, if a change for the better be effected in the system of morals in the West Indies, from the causes I have described, the colored ladies of Grenada may take to themselves the credit of having been the first to show their respect for a moral theory, by commencing a moral practice, and the legislature of that island may rejoice in the liberal spirit which induced them to be foremost in granting privileges to a people who really endeavoured to deserve them.

CHAPTER LVII.

A CHAPTER OF MISCELLANIES.

"Not much of any thing but a little of every thing."

THE subject of my last chapter is by no means exhausted, but my limits will not allow me to say more in this small volume. My Memoirs are now drawing to a conclusion, and I am about to wind up the catalogue of my remarks on Grenada by a Chapter of Miscellanies.

In this beautiful little island there are many wild and romantic spots, many varieties and curiosities of nature that well deserve to be described, and I regret much, that I had neither time nor opportunity to bestow upon them the attention they deserved.

Grenada is considered, after St. Vincent and Barbados, the healthiest of the Antilles, but it has had its share of fevers, as well as the rest; and the deaths that have occurred among its white inhabitants, from time to time, have been numerous and destructive.

During the insurrection of 1794, that calamity was rendered doubly terrible by the pestilential fever which then raged in the town with a fury that has not since been equalled. A little work, published in 1801 (now I believe not extant), by C. Chisholm,