whom he is immediately subject, some device would be resort- 

 ed to, to confiscate his property. It is true that the abuses 

 of power do not affect agriculturalists alone. Other classes 

 are exposed to their unsparing severity. But when we 

 consider that the great body of the people are devoted to till-' 

 age, that those addicted to this pursuit, are more distinguish^ 

 ed for quiet and patient endurance than other classes, that 

 through the equal partition of estates, most landholders are 

 small proprietors, and destitute of the means of defence which 

 great wealth often furnishes, we see that, to them, will fall the 

 greatest share of the mischiefs of unrestrained authority. 



Hindosthan is a still more impressive illustration of the dis- 

 astrous effects of mis-government and arbitrary exactions oil 

 the interests of agriculture. The soil is productivCj and 

 throughout the larger portion of the peninsula, the warmth of 

 the season is said to be sufficiently intense and continuous, to 

 yield two, and sometimes three crops annually. The cultiva- 

 tion of the ground is in the most depressed state^ and far be- 

 hind that of some regions, which were in a state of barbarism 

 when this ancient land had reached its present degree of civiliz- 

 ation. The agriculturists have no adequate protection for their 

 property. Their acquisitions are said to be subject to enor^ 

 mous extortions from the ruling powers, who under the form 

 of collecting tribute to defray the public expenses, wrest from 

 them the fruits of their industry, and crush them down in pover- 

 ty and discouragement. 



And what is the whole Turkish Empire but a specimen of 

 a favored region of the earth, cursed by the despotism of the 

 government, whose officers are like a stationary band of rob- 

 bers, supporting and enriching themselves by the pillage of 

 those over whom they exercise dominion ? 



A greater portion of the most ancient regions of the 

 •World, those upon which nature has lavished its munifi- 

 cence, is precisely that part upon which the tyranny of man 

 has breathed its pestilential breath, and blasted with sterility 

 and desolation. 



2. Another form of oppression is that of slavery. It is 

 contended by some writers that this institution in certain 



