CHAP. I. ] WEST INDIES. 205 
man mind, yet, notwithstanding what has been just 
observed concerning local manners and habits in the 
different classes of European settlers, it cannot be 
denied, that there prevails besides, something of a 
marked and predominant character common to all 
the white residents. 
Of this character it appears to me, that the lead¬ 
ing feature is an independent spirit, and a display 
of conscious equality, throughout all ranks and 
conditions. The poorest white person seems to 
consider himself nearly on a level with the richest, 
and, emboldened by this idea, approaches his em¬ 
ployer with extended hand, and a freedom, which, 
in the countries of Europe, is seldom displayed by 
men in the lower orders of life towards their supe¬ 
riors. It is not difficult to trace the origin of this 
principle. It arises, without doubt, from the pre¬ 
eminence and distinction which are necessarily at¬ 
tached even to the complexion of a white man, in 
a country where the complexion, generally speak¬ 
ing, distinguishes freedom from slavery. Of the 
two great classes of people in most of these co¬ 
lonies, the blacks out number the whites in the 
proportion of seven to one. As a sense of com¬ 
mon safety therefore unites the latter in closer 
ties than are necessary among men who are dif¬ 
ferently situated, so the same circumstance neces¬ 
sarily gives birth among them to reciprocal depen- 
dance and respect. Other causes contribute to the 
same end. “ Where slavery” (says a great judge 
of human nature) “ is established in any part of the 
