144 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION. 



view so many pictures of abominable selfishness 

 and even of pure malevolence. And it is a most 

 melancholy reflection, that numerous tribes of a 

 s-imilar description are spread over a very large 

 portion of the habitable world. It makes one feel 

 degraded when he reflects that he is related, by 

 the ties of a common nature, to beings possessing 

 a character so malignant and depraved. 



I shall select only another example, illustrative 

 of this topic, extracted from the travels of Mr. 

 Park. This enterprising traveller prosecuted a 

 journey of many hundred miles in the interior of 

 Africa, for the most part on foot, and alone. 

 Sometimes, his way lay over a burning sandy 

 wilderness, where he found little to alleviate 

 either his hunger or his thirst ; and sometimes he 

 travelled among woods and thickets, and across 

 rivers and marshes, exposed to the wild beasts, 

 and without any path to guide him. Though 

 the negroes of that country frequently relieved 

 his wants and distresses, yet the Moors used him 

 with great cruelty and inhumanity, so that ha 

 hardly escaped with life. The chiefs through 

 whose territories he passed, generally exacted a 

 tribute from him, so long as he had any thing to 

 give, and, under that plea, they often robbed him 

 of all the articles which he had it not in his pow 

 er to conceal. When he passed through the 

 town ofDeena,the Moors insulted him in every 

 form which malignity could invent. A crowd of 

 them surrounded the hut in which he lodged, and, 

 besides hissing and shouting, uttered much abu 

 sive language. Their aim seemed tobe to nrovoke 

 Park to make retaliation, that they might have 

 some pretence to proceed to greater outrages, and 

 to rob him of his property. Suspecting their in 

 tentions he bore all with the greatest patience, 

 and, though they even spit in his face, he showed 

 no marks of resentment. Disappointed in their 

 aim, they had recourse to an argument common 

 among Mahometans, to convince themselves 

 that they had a right to whatever the stranger 

 might have in his possession. He was a Chris 

 tian. They opened his bundles, and took what 

 ever they thought might be of use, and whatever 

 suited their fancy. 



Having been kept for some time in captivity 

 by a Moorish tribe, they not only robbed him of 

 the few articles which were still in his possession, 

 but insulted and oppressed him with the most 

 wanton cruelty. The day was passed in hunger 

 and thirst ; to hunger and thirst were added the 

 malignant insults of the Moors, of whom many 

 visited him, whose only business seemed to be to 

 torment him. He always saw the approach of 

 the evening v/ith pleasure; it terminated another 

 day of his miserable existence, and removed from 

 him his troublesome visitants. A scanty allow 

 ance of kouskous,* and of salt and water, was 



* A species of food somewhat resembling Scotch 

 oorridg-e. 



brought him generally about midnight. Phil 

 scanty allowance was all that he and bis two at 

 tendants were to expect during the whole of the 

 ensuing day. &quot; I was a stranger,&quot; says he, &quot; I 

 was unprotected, and I was a Christian; each 

 of these circumstances is sufficient to drive every 

 spark of humanity from the heart of a Moor. 

 Anxious, however, to conciliate favour, and, if 

 possible, to afford the Moors no pretence for ill- 

 treating me, I readily complied with every com 

 mand, and patiently bore every insult. But 

 never did any period of my life pass away so 

 heavily. From sun-rise to sun-set, was I oblig 

 ed to bear, with an unruffled countenance, the in 

 sults of the rudest savages upon earth.&quot; Having, 

 at length, made his escape from these barbarians, 

 he declares, &quot; It is impossible to describe the joy 

 that arose in my mind, when I looked around, 

 and concluded that I was out of danger. I felt 

 like one recovered from sickness. I breathed 

 freer ; I found unusual lightness in my limbs : 

 even the desert looked pleasant; and I dreaded 

 nothing so much as falling in with some wandering 

 parties of the Moors, who might convey me back 

 to the land of thieves and murderers from 

 which I had just escaped.&quot; Alas ! what a load 

 of sorrow and of misery have the selfishness and 

 inhumanity of man accumulated upon the heads 

 of forlorn and unfortunate sufferers ! While our 

 disconsolate traveller, after his escape, was 

 wandering in an unknown desert, fainting with 

 hunger, and parched with thirst, surrounded 

 with pitchy darkness, which was only relieved 

 by the flashes of the lightnings; where no sounds 

 were heard but the bowlings of wild beasts, and 

 the rolling thunders : &quot; About two in the morn 

 ing,&quot; says he, &quot;my horse started at something, 

 and, looking round, I was not a little surprised to 

 see a light, at a short distance among the trees, 

 and supposing it to be a town, I groped along 

 the sand, in hopes of finding corn stalks, cotton, 

 or other appearances of cultivation, but. found 

 none. As I approached, I perceived a number 

 of lights in other places, and, leading my horse 

 cautiously towards the light, I heard, by the low 

 ing of the cattle, and the clamorous tongues of the 

 herdsmen, that it was a watering place, ana 

 most likely belonged to the Moors. Delightful as 

 the sound of the human voice was to me, I resolv 

 ed once more to strike into the woods, and ra 

 ther run the risk of perishing with hunger, than 

 trust myself again into their hands.&quot; It is a 

 most affecting consideration, and shows to what 

 a degree of malignity human beings have arriv 

 ed, when a hungry, houseless, and benighted 

 traveller prefers to flee for protection to the 

 haunts of the beasts of prey, rather than commit 

 himself to the tender mercies of those who are 

 partakers of the same common nature, and who 

 have it in their power to alleviate his distresses. 

 Mr. Park, when among the Moors, was forced 

 to pass many days, almost without drink, undei 



