256 INDIANA HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS 



who have treated upon this subject, and give them as 

 authority, once for all. 



"It has long been a favorite theory of many philoso- 

 phers, that the negro races are naturally inferior in point 

 of intellect, and do not possess the same capacity for im- 

 provement as the Europeans, or people of Caucasian va- 

 riety. This supposition, however, has been vehemently 

 denied, and it has been contended, over and over again, 

 that the peculiar circumstances under which they have 

 been placed sufficiently account for the condition of the 

 Africans — for their want of a literature, and their de- 

 graded and low scale of civilization, and brutal and sav- 

 age existence. 



"That great weight should be attached to these circum- 

 stances, I am willing to admit, but wholly deny they have 

 produced the existing state of things. It is a well known 

 historical fact, that ancient Egypt was, at one period, the 

 principal seat of science, literature, arts and civilization, 

 and that the various nations or tribes of the African race 

 were in close contact, and had a pretty extensive inter- 

 course, not only with the Egyptians, but also with the 

 Phoenicians, and afterward with the Romans. What did 

 they profit by this association? Literally, nothing. For 

 while the then almost equally barbarous people of Greece, 

 Asia Minor and Magna Graecia, raised themselves, in a 

 comparatively brief period, to the highest civilization and 

 refinement, the negro race of Africa continues, with-but 

 one single solitary exception, down even to the present 

 day, immersed in the greatest barbarism. 



"It is not possible that, during the space of 3 or 4,000 

 years, opportunities have not been afforded some of them 

 to make some slight advances in the scale of human im- 

 provement. Is there any proof that they have had the 

 sagacity that is inherent in the Caucasian family, to 

 profit by contact with more favored nations ? 



"It appears to me a fact, that Africa has not produced 

 a single name worthy to rank with the heroes and sages 

 of the world. 



