332 JAMAICA. 



feather-bed upon which the poor wretch had jufl: breathed his lafl:. 

 And fuch is the mirror of almoft all thefe conjunftions of white 

 and black ! two tindures which nature has diflbciated, like oil and 

 vinegar. But, as if fome good was generally to arife out of evil, 

 fb we find, that thefe connexions have been applauded upon a prin- 

 ciple of policy ; as if, by forming fuch alliances with the (laves, 

 they might become more attached to the white people. Perhaps, 

 the fruit of thefe unions may, by their confanguinity with a certain 

 number of the Blacks, fupport fome degree of influence, fo far as 

 that line of kindred extends : yet one would fcarcely fuppofe it to 

 have any remote effedl ; becaufe they, for their own parts, defpife 

 the Blacks, and afpire to mend their complexion ftill more by in- 

 termixture with the Whites. The children of a White and Qua* 

 teron are called Englilh, and confider themfelves as free from all 

 taint of the Negroe race. To call them by a degree inferior to 

 what they really are, would be the higheil: affront. This pride of 

 amended blood is univerfal, and becomes the more confirmed, if 

 they have received any fmattering of education ; for then tl:iey look 

 down with the more fupercilious contempt upon thofe who have 

 had none. Such, whofe mind has been a little purged from the 

 groflefl: ignorance, may wifh and endeavour to improve it ftill 

 more; but no freed or unfreed Mulatto ever wifhed to relapfe into 

 the Negro. The fa6t is, that the opulent among them withdraw 

 to England ; where their influence, if they ever pofleflcd any, 

 ceafes to be of any ufe. The middle clafs are not much liked by 

 the Negroes, becaufe the latter abhor the idea of being flaves to- 

 the defcendants of Haves. And as for the lower rank, the ilTue of 

 cafual fruition, they, for the moft part, remain in the fame flavifli 

 condition as their mother; they are fellow-labourers with the Blacks, 

 and are not regarded in the leaft as their fuperiors. As for the firft- 

 mentioned, it would probably be no diflervice to the ifland, to regain 

 all thofe who have abandoned it. But, to ftatethe comparifon fairly, 

 if their fathers had married, the difference would have been this; 

 their white offspring might have remained in the colony, to 

 ftrengthen and enrich it: the Mulatto offspring defert and impo- 

 verifh it. The lower clafs of thefe mixtures, who remain in the ifland, 

 are a hardy race, capable of undergoing equal fatigue with the Blacks, 



above 



