appy: 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
Europe, and than would have been adopted, or patiently borne, in ages
of virtuous simplicity. A very numerous part of our countrymen spend
their most susceptible age in those countries, where despotic manners
remarkably prevail. They are themselves, when invested with office,
treated by the natives with an idolatrous degree of reverence, which
teaches them to expect a similar submission to their will, on their
return to their own country. They have been accustomed to look up to
personages greatly their superiors in rank and riches, with awe; and
to look down on their inferiors in _property_ with supreme contempt,
as slaves of their will and ministers of their luxury. Equal laws and
equal liberty at home appear to them saucy claims of the poor and the
vulgar, which tend to divest riches of one of the greatest charms,
over-bearing dominion. We do, indeed, import gorgeous silks and
luscious sweets from the Indies, but we import, at the same time, the
spirit of despotism, which adds deformity to the purple robe, and
bitterness to the honied beverage." "That _Oriental_ manners are
unfavourable to liberty, is, I believe, universally conceded. The
natives of the East Indies entertain not the idea of