THE PELEW ISLANDS. 
bit of old iron, was to them the alluring diamond.-“They 
had no penal ftatute againft petty larceny . They fought 
only the means of rendering eaficr the daily toils of life, and 
comparing with facility that, which they imperfectly accom- 
plifhed by unwearied perfeverance ! And, I am confident* 
the voice of reafon will unite with me in alferting, that they 
muft have been more than men, had they aCted lefs like men. 
Virtuous in the extreme would be deemed that country, 
where the confcience of no individual, in the cool moments of 
reflection, could upbraid him with a heavier tranfgreflion, 
than applying to his own ufe a bit of iron that lay before 
him! 
In the name of humanity, then, let us judge with lefs 
rigour our fellow-creatures; and, fhould any one be difpofed* 
for fuch trivial failings, to cenfure the benevolent inhabitants 
of Pelew, that cenfure, I truft, for the fake of juftice, will 
never be paired on them by thofe who live in civilized and 
enlightened nations—for Such muft be too well convinced of 
the inefficacy of the beft-digefted laws, and the inability of 
their own internal police to reftrain the vices of mankind, 
by obferving, that all which prudence can revolve, wifdom 
plan, or power enforce, is frequently unable to protect their 
Property by night, or their Perfons , at all times, even under 
meridian funs.—They will refleCt, that every bolt and bar is 
a fatire on fociety ; and painfully recolleCt, that it is not the 
daring plunderer alone they have to guard againft; they are 
X x affailable 
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